Celebrities?
by BlaireZ16K
Summary: It started as harmless fun; just pretend to be a pop idol group for a commercial. Just one job. Yet, when their "one job" blows up as one of the best performances of all time and people start asking questions, what will Kuroko, Takao, Momoi, Kasamatsu and Himuro do? Will they perform once more? Or will they dissapear into "One-Hit Wonder" history?
1. Chapter 1

It started as just harmless fun.

Takao had happened to run into Kuroko, who had run into Momoi earlier. The three then ran into Kasamatsu in the street. The four had then walked to the supermarket and ran into Himuro.

All five had been surprised at their somehow meeting but agreed to go out to lunch and, after that, walk each other home.

It had just so happened that a searching for inspiration music video maker would catch sight of them and mistake them for some kind of small music group from school and invite them to film a video with simple vocals and with simple choreography.

Of course an excited black haired male agreed on the spot without consulting the group (Takao) and they were all dragged to a small and hidden recording studio where they were given mainly black matching outfits that had differences to match their personalities such as Momoi's coming with a black scrunchy to put up her hair. Kuroko's came with a slightly longer hood to cover most of his face, different from Takao's hood that was part of his ensemble but not as much used. Kasamatsu's and Himuro's had no hoods but did come with collars that could be adjusted to their likings.

Since it was to be a mystery shot, sunglasses were handed out and minor adjustments were made to conceal their identities. Kuroko and Takao chose to wear their hoods more than the sunglasses.

Finally, easy lyrics were given to the teens in an easy to carry beat that could be mastered in less than thirty minutes. The same principle applied with the choreography.

All instruments final came together as the filming started and the filmmakers were in awe even as they sent their film to the company and received a large raise.


	2. What Do We Do Now?

Today.

Kuroko Tetsuya usually tried to ignore the constant chatter that took place around him. There was no use in hoping for a quiet place to read in his high school. The students were in every room and he could always mostly tune them out when he opened his book and started reading.

But today was different. He had noticed it as he had taken his seat in class, Kagami-kun not yet in his own seat. The students were apparently quite loud today, louder than normal.

Kuroko opened his book, eager to get lost in a new adventure, but his reading was continually interrupted with jittery voices and replies.

"Have you watched it, yet?"

"Yeah! It was SO awesome!"

"Just like SAIYA! They're so HOT!"

"I LOVED it! Kya! I had to keep rewinding it to watch it over and over agai-"

Kuroko stopped listening to them as the teacher entered and they rose and bowed, Kagami-kun apparently having reached his seat while Kuroko had been reading.

He distantly wondered what movie or show the girls beside him were gossiping about so highly, but it left his mind when the teacher started writing the lesson on the board.

…

It happened again as he entered the gym. Riko was speaking to Kiyoshi in an excited voice even while Mitobe was watching a video on Furihata-kun's phone. He listened as he walked toward the changing rooms.

"It has to be my favorite commercial! They had such adapt footwork! And they could really sing!" Riko giddily told Teppei.

"I heard that the shoe that the commercial was made for is already sold out at the local shoe store and at the one over in town! I'm not surprised though, I wanted some too after I saw the commercial come one last night." Furi was saying even as he looked back at his phone with Mitobe, who nodded beside him.

Kuroko felt himself turn, slightly curious to catch what everyone had been going wild about.

-And felt his stomach flip when he recognized the person on the screen, along with the choreography and song being played in the commercial.

Turning on his heel before anyone could see him (fat chance that they would've noticed anyway) Kuroko almost ran to a small, hidden alcove under the bleachers where he then flipped his phone out and quickly dialed Takao's number.

The male picked up after the first ring, which was the first sign of trouble since he should've been beginning practice as well.

"Yeah? Kuroko?" Takao spoke, his voice sounding slightly higher than usual. "Have you heard yet, apparently we're on every channel." A small amount of a mix of panic and what sounded like awe lit up Takao's elevated voice.

"I've seen it," Kuroko answered, keeping his voice level and soft so his teammates would not know he was missing. "They made the commercial look almost masterful."

"Yeah," Takao breathed out in a short laugh. "True that."

Kuroko looked at his phone as another call joined their and he put them on three way.

"Himuro-kun," He said in hello and he heard Himuro acknowledge him back in the same manner before starting.

"Have you guys seen the commercial, yet?"

Kuroko and Takao answered their confirmations.

"It looks really awesome," Himuro continued. "I almost spat out my cereal when I saw it come on this morning."

Before any of them could reply, Takao said "Kasamatsu's calling; I'll add him in. One second."

A second later, Kasamatsu's voice joined their conversation. "I'm guessing since we're all already talking like this that we've all heard about it or seen it. The commercial?"

Each one voiced confirmation.

Kuroko looked down as his phone alerted him to a text.

"Momoi-san just texted me. She's seen it as well and is wondering what we should be doing." He spoke into the conversation and there was a soft minute of silence.

"Well, we don't make ourselves known, that's for sure. At least not yet." Kasamatsu spoke up and Kuroko could almost feel the other males nodding in confirmation. "Then-"

"Kuroko!"

Kuroko jumped slightly as he heard the others calling for him.

He heard similar shouts for the other participants in the phone call from their respective teams and heard Kasamatu sigh.

"Guess we'll have to do it after practice. Maji Burger?"

"Sounds good to me." Takao answered his confirmation.

"I'll be there," Himuro anwered as well.

"Alright, and I'll be sure to notify Momoi-san," Kuroko answered even as he saw Riko turning red from anger of his disspearance.

"I must go now. Goodbye."

Sending Momoi a quick message, Kuroko sighed and wondered what they had gotten themselves into all those months ago on that random day.


	3. Come Find Us?

Takao started the conconversation as soon as they were all seated.

"So, we're, like, instant celebrities."

Kuroko nodded, drinking his vanilla shake. "The commercial is apparently really popular. It's causing the product to be in very high demand."

"Oh wow," Momoi said then, her phone in her hand. "We're getting tweets and posts like crazy. The entire media is buzzing, trying to find a name for the 'mysterious and sensational group that is taking the world by storm'".

Kasamatsu "hmm"d even as Himuro said "Awesome."

"So what do we do now, though?" Takao asked exasperatedly as he chewed on his fries in front of him. "I mean, do we come out? Or do we stay hidden?"

"I think, for now, we should keep this under wraps,"Kasamatsu answered and held up his hand before Takao could demand why and yell. "Just think about it for minute. If the commercial is doing this well, then there's no way that the director wouldn't want another one to be filmed." Giving the others time for the information to sink in, Kasamatsu continued. "If he really wants to do another commercial, I'm sure he'll find some way to contact and find us, probably soon since the ad is still top news and he wants to keep it that way. I say we give him some time and let him find us for some more action."

Kuroko raised brow at Kasamatsu's words. "So we are accepting his proposal once more?" He asked. "With the Interhigh in just a few weeks?"

"But we got paid a lot last time," Takao interjected and Kuroko had to agree to that statement.

"How would we keep the others from finding out?" Himuro asked, drinking his Dr. Pepper thoughtfully. "Form a fake club of our own?"

He saw Momoi and Kasamatsu's eyes brighten and wondered if they were seriously thinking about it.

"Perfect!" Momoi squealed and Himuro could only slowly shake his head.

"What would we even name it?" He asked and saw Kasamatsu lean back in his chair in thought.

Each member of the group "hmm"d then as they thought about what a cool name for a fake club could be, even the ones who didn't think it would work.

Their thoughts were interrupted when a happy male voice called out to them from across the restaurant, "I FOUND YOU!"

Apparently Kasamatsu's theory of their director finding them was completely on point.


	4. Alternate Dimension

Kuroko was contemplating. The vanilla shake in his hand courtesy of their director, who had promised him plenty to come. Said director had taken them back to the small studio and had begged them to do another video, this one with a bit more complexity then their first.

The dance was not HARD but it took more than thirty minutes to learn, unlike their other dance. The song for commercial was also more complex, casting them in roles, even whole it was still not too hard. Just complex.

He sighed, his mind thinking about what his agreement to this would bring him in the future. In lieu of the same thoughts in everyone's mind, Kasamatsu demanded to be allowed certain privileges in correspondence with their agreement. Almost as if he were a natural born agent.

After conflicts had been resolved and understood on both sides, an agreement was made, Kasamatsu making sure it was non-binding what's-so-ever.

Their outfits for the commercial were slightly similar to the ones to the ones before except that some dark objects were added here and there.

Apparently, they were promoting headphones this time, each pair was color coded for their person. Since the headphones would have to be seen on their ears and featured , more care was taken in covering their identities. Sunglasses were still provided,of course and hair was changed to be parted differently, small minute changes that helped overall.

The pounding rhythm of a sped up version of Nicki Minaj's _"The Night Is Still Young"_ controlled their rapid footwork, forcing Kuroko to work extra hard to keep up.

When it was done they were all sweating and panting in overexertion.

How was this not "hard" again?

"That was WONDERFUL!" The director yelled jubilantly as him and his men started watching their work and mixing it in order to turn it into a prime commercial. Kuroko wanted to see but he didn't think he could move from his hands and knees position he'd found himself sprawled into. The others were in similar positions, though slightly better than him. Takao seemed to have something on his mind more than their current situation but Kuroko wasn't in the state to pry as he tried to catch his breath again.

He really hoped all of would be worth it.

...

The Interhigh was intense in a way that seemed to burn through Kuroko and leave him dry and withered, but still standing. He drank down his vanilla shake almost too quickly as he walked the rest of the way to school.

The rest of the team may have been rejoicing and overjoyed at their outcome, but Kuroko (besides feeling the same) had felt he mainly deserved a good rest after everything in the last month.

He took that deep rest as soon as he had gotten home, had slept so long his parents had wondered if he had caught a fever. He had reassured them that he had just been tired again from all of the physical exertion.

He found himself yawning then as he thought about it and wondered if he should have had some more sleep.

He stepped into his classroom then, ready to have a slightly slower than normal day-

When he heard the sped up rhythm of Nicki Minaj's _"The Night Is Still Young"_ and the squealing of his classmates.

"Kya! He's the cutest one!"

"No way! The short one is the best!" Short?

"No! The long haired back one with the hood! He's so sexy! He reminds me of Shiro from SAIYA!" Girl A was squealing as she watched the commercial on her phone and her eyes almost _shined_ in a way that made Kuroko want to take a wide arc around the group if he wanted to to get to his seat.

"Kya! I love them all!"

"You're right! I just can't choose who's hotter!"

"This is even better then their other one!"

"Totally!"

He chose to sneak a glance at the commercial as he took his seat behind the girls-and realized they were absolutely right with their last statements. The commercial looked absolutely better than their other one before, their choreography seeming more on point and closer to the dancers, yet keeping their identities a secret from the camera.

He distantly wished he'd watched how they did it, to have done such a great job with what they had.

"They must all be insanely talented!" One girl squealed, her eyes almost _shining_ in fangirl wonder.

"Yeah!," another girl in the group added in giddiness. "I bet they practice on like an every day basis! Could you

Kuroko could only shake his head in select wonder at the girl's sudden fantasies about some kind of all-star dance crew that had suddenly made its secret appearance but was not ready to show the world their true talent.

"I bet the shorter, blue haired one is probably loud and rambunctious!" The one he called Girl A said then, her eyes shining. "I bet he plays pranks on the others but secretly cares about them all! Just like a little brother!"

"Of course!" The girl he called Girl B answered in a Know-It-All fashion. "It's obvious the hooded, long haired black one is like the den-mother, he's made for the role!"

Takao? Den mother?

Kuroko couldn't help the shake of his head this time. What kind of alternate dimension did these girls think they could see in these commercials?!

"I bet both the long black haired ones watch over the others, the girl seems so hard-core!" Girl C chimed in. "I bet she rides a motorcycle to work every morning!"

"But what about the one in the front? He seems like he's the leader." Girl B asked and Girl A's eyes flashed again. Kuroko was afraid of her answer but listened anyway.

"He's like the ring-leader, and probably the head guy in the group. The seme."

All of the girls gasped in awe as they looked at their obvious leader.

"So everyone else is his uke?"

"Kya! That's so awesome!"

"I wonder how he keeps them in line! Oh, the wonderful ideas! Oh-"

Kuroko zoned them out immediately as the teacher _finally_ entered the room. Who knew there were so many fujoshis in his classroom? Perhaps he'd _share_ this with Kasamatsu and the others of how they were all apparently his "ukes".


	5. Sanity?

The day was not yet done with Kuroko.

The second he walked into practice, he was greeted by the sight of Kagami wearing very familiar looking headphones. Not only that, Furi was once again showing Mitobe the video on his phone even while Riko excitedly chatted to Teppei.

"It came on just as I got back from the tournament! It was so AWESOME!"

Shaking his head at his team's disarray, Kuroko headed for the changing rooms almost too quickly, hoping they wouldn't notice that he had gotten a pair of those headphones as complimentary from the filming, the color a design made distinctly for him.

...

"Kuroko, are these the new Hype Headphones that went on sale last night sold out by this morning?"

Kuroko froze at Furihata's question, the rest of the team freezing with him in their walk out the gym after practice.

Kuroko schooled his expressions at Furihata's catch at the glimpse inside his bag. No surprise was showing as he turned to his shocked team.

"A friend of mine got me some for doing him a very large favor."

"But," Furi answered his cool statement before he could walk away. "The color selections don't come in sky blue. Only the dark, main colors."

Kuroko answers back in the same cool style. "He got them specially ordered for me. I did not ask how since it was a gift."

"Oh wow!" Furi answered, his eyes going wide. "You must have some AWESOME friends, Kuroko!"

Kuroko couldn't help the small smile that arose on his lips. "I do."

...

Takao stared at his phone in wonder.

"Way too many zeros behind that number..." He said softly as he walked down the street, his bank account pulled up on his phone.

"What the heck am I going to do with all this money?"

...

Momoi's eyes glittered as she googled the fame of the commercial.

There were already theories ranging from them actually just being volcaloids to them just being an undercover street gang who had "finally hit the big time".

There was already fan art of them on Google, some of it being Yaoi originated.

She scoffed at a picture of herself decked out in leather and leaning against a motorcycle.

This was all getting so interesting!

...

Kise watched in confusion as Kasamatsu talked on the phone. Whoever was on the other line was getting quite the talk from Kasamatsu, whose eyes were blazing.

He distantly wondered who it was even as he thought about Kasamatsu's recent disappearances from practice and that his phone had been blowing up lately.

All of these thoughts exited his mind then as he turned and saw three cute girls at another table looking at him and gave them a sultry wink, causing them to giggle and squeal louder than before- of course earning him a good smack on the back of his head by Kasamatsu.

"Ouch! That hurt!"

...

Himuro didn't quite understand why he liked watching their commercial come on. He wasn't self centered or a pig, but he liked watching it. Liked the rhythm and the action. Almost like the final minutes in a basketball game.

He found himself almost dancing along with it and wondered if the others were questioning their sanity as well.

They were.


	6. Thinking?

"'Rhythm'?" Kuroko parroted Momoi in slight confusion.

The female walking beside him smiled and nodded. "That's apparently what they're calling us on all the blog sights; the media's picked it up now and started a wildfire! The media is even comparing us to the SAIYA group and some AK pop groups. Saying that we ' _exploded_ onto their scene'. Though comparing our commercials with nationally known idol groups might be a bit much." She ended with a soft giggle.

Kuroko "hmm"d as he processed this information, causing in his act of drinking his vanilla shake as he walked, the setting sun making the sky into a tableau of orange and crimson.

"It kinda fits," he said softly and Momoi had to smile at his condescending words.

"Does it?"

"But will it end here?" Kuroko asked and Momoi wasn't sure if he was asking that question to her or to the universe but she tried her best to answer.

"I'm not sure. We've got kind of a break from basketball, at least like, two weeks. Wonder what we're going to do for it," she said softly, her mind wandering.

"Maybe we could use it to film something else?" Kuroko asked next her in a soft tone that she knew he put almost out of hearing level. She paused and whirled to looked at him and found him drinking the shake and trying for all the world to appear nonchalant at his almost silent statement.

She felt a smile grace her lips then.

"So, I wasn't the only one thinking that?" she asked and saw sky blue eyes widen slightly in surprise.

She laughed at his apparent shock and slowly shook her head.

"It's quite the thrill; keeping our identities hidden, having the whole world cheer for us and not even know who we are..."

Kuroko nodded, his shake almost empty, if the slurping sounds were anything to go by.

"I think," his soft voice said just as they reached her house and stopped in front of her gates. "That if we want to have a small break from how hard we've been working, then no one can really blame us. They're all taking breaks too. We'll just be using ours differently."

Momoi smiled, her heart warming as she realized she had fallen in love with him all over again.


	7. Again?

Kuroko wondered how it happened again.

He had ran into Momoi on his way to the market. She had accompanied him where they had met up with Takao, who looked just as surprised as they were.

The three had walked through the market, pushing one cart as they settled into an easy and normal rhythm that they all liked so much that they were walking to Maji Burger before they had even discussed any plans whatsoever.

Himuro's sudden appearance at the restaurant was a shock but a slightly welcome one.

Kuroko smiled now as they all walked out of the restaurant doors and turned right, still immersed in each other.

Where they ran into Kasamats, who looked just as shocked as they did but blended into the conversation easily enough.

"Ah," Takao sighed as they walked closer to his house. "I don't want to go home, yet."

Kuroko nodded. "It does seem like we're separating too early. "

The others nodded.

"Well, " Himuro spoke, glancing across the street. "Why don't we have a little fun?"

In confusion, the others looked over to where Himuro was glancing toward.

"Karaoke? "

...

The idea seemed ludicrous at first. They all spoke of It's ridiculousness as they walked over to the Karaoke Center and bought their room.

Yet.

Somehow, they also found themselves having fun. Songs were sang in surprisingly good voices and harmonies, dance steps were learned rapidly and well in synch.

It was almost as if they were MADE to dance together like this. To sing together like this.

Kasamatsu wondered these things as he watched his group song and dance, enjoying themselves.

His thoughts paused when he questioned when they had become HIS group.

When had they all gone from five awkwardly thrown together teenagers who ended up pulled into filming a commercial (thanks to Takao ) into a group of friends, or performers even. He wondered when the change had taken place in them.

Or maybe it was still occurring even then. Maybe they were all changing each other.

But would continuing this thread get them into a dangerous situation or into something beyond their wildest dreams?

"Kasamatsu -senpai? "

Kuroko's call snapped Kasamatsu out of his thoughts and he realized they were all looking at him as if they had asked him an important question.

Instead of being nonchalant as he wanted to be, Kasamatsu found himself speaking of something completely different.

"Guys, we need to talk. "


	8. Doing This?

"What did you want to talk about, Kasamatsu-senpai?"

Kasamatsu wasn't sure how to reply to Kuroko's question as they sat on a deserted picnic table in the park near Takao's house.

Being late, Kasamatsu wasn't surprised at the empty park.

"I've been getting repeated calls from Tino-san, " he spoke and chose to elaborate at their confused looks. "The director." Recognition crossed their faces and he decided it was okay to continue.

"He wants us again. But, this time not for just another commercial." He pause, trying to choose his words correctly, knowing he wasn't very good at it. "He wants us to become an official performance group for his company. "

A hushed silence.

When no one spoke up, not even the usually loud Takao, he continued.

"I told him that we're still only high schoolers and that we have extracurricular activities as well and he promised that it wouldn't be a problem. Our identities will still be kept secret.

"But this IS a job, even if It's only part time. It requires studious work and concentration. There are no shortcuts And we CANNOT lose sight of who we are."

He let the ominous warning hang in the air.

"But," he put in then when no one spoke. "This IS a once in a life time kind of thing.. and I think we can do it; I mean, i've SEEN our talent!"

Another pause and Kasamatsu felt like suddenly defending himself. "It was just a thought! You don't really HAVE to, I mean. I've just been thinking about our performances a lot lately. Too much, I think. But if you think It's a bad idea, then just... um.. .forget about it..?"

Kasamatsu's words ended as a question as get saw the others across from him looking as if the were close to having laughing fits, even Kuroko as he sipped his vanilla shake.

"What?!" Kasamatsu demanded, his face inflaming.

"Senpai, " Kuroko answered him, a slight smile gracing his lips, making his light blue eyes shine mystically . "We've been thinking the exact same thing you have for the past week. We were going to confront you about it but you got to it first."

Kasamatsu blinked in shock as his group all stood around him and smiled down at him, warmth blossoming in his chest.

"Are we really going to do this?" He heard himself whisper and saw Kuroko's smile of return as the male held out a hand to him.

"Hai. Let's do this, senpai."


	9. Karaoke Live?

Honey Kurasaki was not a nice person, despite her name. At least not to anyone outside of her own private Seirin High "Karaoke Live" club that she ran with two other people. One who rarely showed up.

It was a club doomed for failure but the stubborn yet gorgeous green eyed blood refused to disband it. The student council never really payed it much attention, choosing thier battles carefully when it came to the fiery blonde.

Kasamatsu figured less notice of all of them joining a club was a good thing. And Honey needed more people.

He was hitting two birds with one stone, really. It seemed that as long as Honey had club members and the Student Council of Seirin didn't have to deal with the fiery blond, the fact that they all went to different high schools was overlooked.

At least as long as they avoided causing any problems.

...

"Stretch! Looser! I want to see you stretching!"

Kasamatsu wondered then at his decision to choose the Karaoke Live club. Honey had insisted they go outside and stretch each other before beginning their after school activities. She even had blue T-shirts ready for them and shorts to do their stretching and activities in. Momoi's were a lot shorter then his standard long shorts.

Kuroko moaned slightly as Kasamatsu bent forward , their arms linked in back stretches so he was being pulled over him backwards in the process. Takao and Himuro were stretching each other in the same manner, drawing a crowd of girls.

Honey was stretching with Momoi who was sitting on the grass, her legs spread as she was leaning forward toward her toes, Honey behind her and helping her stretch forward. Boys were visibly drooling at both gorgeous women stretching in short blue work out shorts and fitting T-shirts.

Kasamatsu turned to notice the two others boys in the club doing the same as the girls and also drawing a crowd of female admirers.

One was of average height but had slight longer brown hair that fell into his soft hazel eyes lightly, almost just like how Kuroko 's did. He had a bright smile and apparently flawless agility if the way he flipped from a prank throw that his stretching partner had tried to do. His skin was tanned, almost a light caramel.

The other was an expressionless boy with lighter blond colored hair, almost white. The hair fell into his eyes that held nothing but cool waters. He was a slight head taller than his stretching partner but seemed to slump more than most. Kasamatsu noticed a pair of Hype Headphones around his neck and wondered how he had gotten them when they had been sold out by that morning.

"This," Honey spoke, loudly and waving her hand toward the two as if she had caught Kasamatsu staring and realized she'd never quite introduced anybody to each other.

"Is Kyota Kiyo and Tetsumi Shiro. " Both bowed beside their club leader and the one named Kiyo smiled.

"You really can just call me Ki, please. And just call this guy Shiro. Although I call him Ro -kun."

The male in question looked at his apparent friend and those cool pools of liquid water seemed to sharpen dangerously...before returning to their calm currents once more.

Kiyo seemed to only smile even brighter and Kasamatsu wondered about the bromance that he was witnessing.

"Alright," Honey said then. "It's time to switch partners. Kuroko, pair with Ki. Himuro, pair with Shiro. And Kasamatsu is with Takao. Now get back to stretching!" The loud whistle was in her mouth and blown before any words of objections could be given and Kasamatsu sighed as they all walked over to their new partners.

His dark eyes dared Takao to do something stupid; he'd regret it if he did.

He noticed Himuro having a little less difficulty stretching with a partner who was just about the same height as him and nodded at the improvement that Honey had probably anticipated. Pairing Kasamatsu with Takao so he could keep the other in line and Himuro with someone of his height and with someone who also liked to stay calm and silent. He nodded again but still wondered about another thing.

Kuroko and Kiyo were,while the same height, complete opposites. So what else was...

Fangirl squeals filled the air and Kasamatsu turned -and saw exactly why.

Kiyo had his arms thrown around Kuroko's shoulders, his expression as if he had just some kind of amazing joke. Kuroko was smiling at him, his eyes glowing as they usually did whenever a rare smile breached the surface.

The wind was playing with their hair yet the sun shone down on them steadily.

It looked like a picturesque scene that could only happen in some BL novel or dumb game of some sort.

Camera phones were whipped out, Honey's included, and Kasamatsu decided to put a stop to the little show immediately.


	10. Himuro?

"What?!"

Honey 's loud voice echoed through the hallway as she looked at her new club members. Each one had their hands up in surrender toward her, as if she were some wild tiger in the zoo.

"What do you MEAN you have to leave early?!"

The one she knew was named Kasamatsu flinched slightly at her raised voiced and the students he could hear screeching to a stop in the hallway.

"We just have to go do something important. " he answered and she narrowed her eyes in anger.

"No, the CLUB is important! "

"Hon-chan, " Ki said from beside her in his effort to calm her.

"No!" Honey snapped, her fiery temper making itself known.

Kasamatsu sighed but heard a soft sound next to him. Himuro had patted him on the back as he'd passed him and made his way to the fiery vixen.

Honey stiffened as he walked toward her until he was only a breath from her but Himuro only smiled the smile that Kasamatsu had guessed had flustered many a fiery woman.

"We're not completely leaving the club, Honey. " She seemed to shudder lightly at the endearment he had turned her name into. He then leaned forward and brushed a length of her hair behind her left ear as he stared into her eyes, his smoldering depths making her obviously speechless.

"We'll be back soon. Okay?" He smiled his again and Honey 's face pickened.

"Nee, Honey?" He asked when all she did was stare.

Her answer was a barely discernible nod that caused another signature smile from Prince Charming as he leaned forward and whispered to her.

"Arigato."

With this he turned back to his group, his normal, non predatory smile on display. "Shall we go?"

"Hey! " Ki said then, his face slightly pink as he'd watched the scene. "Th-that-"

Himuro was okay front of him before he could finish, his finger bringing upward Ki's chin.

"Is there a problem, Ki -kun? " Not only had the flashing smile gone full force but his voice had darkened almost passionately. Ki 's voiced seemed to leave him as he stared up at Himuro almost helplessly. He could only shake his head.

He then turned to his group. His normal smile shining like a soft lighthouse beacon. "Shall we?" He asked, indicating to the door.

The group stared at him for a moment before Kasamatsu slowly shook his head and proceeded outside of the classroom. The others soon followed, Kuroko going last and glancing one last time at the still unmoved pair of teens.

Himuro was scary.


	11. Fade?

**_Hello! I just had to thank everyone who has reviewed, faved or put me on their alerts. I can't believe it and I can't thank you enough!_**

 ** _This chapter is going to have kind of a time skip so it may be kind of wierd._**

 ** _Once again, Thank you so much and please keep it up! Your reviews are a large inspiration!_**

* * *

Kuroko was relieved. As hard as Riko's and Akashi's training regiments had been, it made the warm ups at the studio that much easier.

"Alright," Their director said then, clapping his hands to signal the end of the warm ups. "It's time time to start now."

Kuroko felt his stomach jolt. Warm butterflies did acrobatics in his stomach as he felt the excitement encompass him.

"The song we are going with today is less intense then our other ones. It's about a Soda type of beverage. We're going to go for more of a 'night time alive' kind of feel. The song is 'The Time Our Lives' by the artist Pitbull. Of course a fast beat means a rapid dance."

Kuroko almost wilted. He hoped all of it would be worth it.

Glancing around at his group, he sudden felt sure it would be.

...

"Come on, Tet-chan! "

Kuroko sighed as he ignored the odd gazes his teammates were giving Takao as the male called him from his place by the gym doors. They had just finished up practice and were getting ready to disperse. The leaves were slowly changing and fading, the air chilling outside.

It was almost odd about their new schedule to meet up after school and practice now. Of course, after a small rest from the practice of basketball.

"I'm coming, Takao -kun, " Kuroko answered his friend, placing his bag on his shoulder.

"Why don't you just call me Kazunari -kun, already? " Takao asked even as Kuroko joined him.

"Because it will make me uncomfortable, " Kuroko answered, straight laced as always, but Takao saw the small light in his eyes that made him think that the boy was picking on him.

"It's not nice to pick on people, you know? " Takao grinned, elbowing Kuroko lightly. Kuroko only smiled, his eyes beginning to shine once more.

"Hey, " the soft growl of Kagami 's voice made both boys turn to the team of high-schoolers watching both of them. "Since when did you two get so close?"

"I'm wondering that myself," Riko said, her arms crossed as she stared at them.

"A few months ago," Takao answered, a bright smile stretching across his face. "Tet-chan is too cute for me too ignore!"

Kuroko sighed in apparent exasperation. "Takao -kun. "

Takao laughed, his eyes alight. "Gomen, Gomen. The reactions are just too good to miss."

Kuroko sighed again and turned to his team, his eyes calm pools of glacier waters.

"Takao and I joined a club. We have club activities and our senpais in the club can be very short tempered. "

Kuroko's explanation smoothed over the team in a wave similar to that of cool water. It calmed the arguments, even if just for the time that he and Takao used to leave the gym.

The closing gym door echoed loudly in the room of momentarily shocked students.

...

"Whoa. "

Takao's awed word echoed through the silent room in Himuro's slight bigger than normal house. Said male was sitting on the edge of the middle table in front of the couch. He and the rest of thier group had made themselves comfortable around the hard wood floor and the couch.

They had all gathered there to watch the end product of all their hard work on the Soda commercial.

They were not disappointed

"That one was better than the others ones, " Takao spoke, thinking of the scenes in the commercial that had upgraded it from the others on a completely different level.

The upbeat music, the heat and mist of the club in the commercial, the sweat inducing dancing and the short slow motion clips caught of it. Blinding music and sounds.

All of it fit together for a tantalizing mix of light, visual, and sound that got the viewer in the mood for a night out.

"It's crazy how good they are," Himuro smiled and the rest of his group nodded even as Kasamatsu spoke.

"Yeah, but the chance of us just being able to stop and fade into history quietly are very remote, now. At this point, the world may never let us go. "


	12. Something New?

**_Hello!_**

* * *

 _"Yeah, but the chance of us just being able to stop and fade into history quietly are very remote, now. At this point, the world may never let us go._ "

* * *

Kuroko knew it would happen. Knew it was only a matter of time until their popularity would switch from simply a bright, small flame into a huge, unstoppable wildfire.

By no means was he egotistical, but he could tell by the rapid publicity and almost crazed social fandoms.

And now, here he was, watching Kasamatsu rage at the director even as the photographers around them were setting up their equipment.

"It's just a photoshoot. " The older man defended himself carefully, his hands up in surrender against Kasamatsu's fury. "Your identities are in no danger. I promise!"

Kasamatsu 's growl was still prominent even as Takao and Himuro patted their leader on his back and turned to their still pretty new director.

"Just a photoshoot, right? That's all?" Takao asked on Kasamatsu's left. The director nodded almost vigorously.

"And their is no risk of our identities being leaked?" Himuro 's question from Kasamatsu's left.

"Not at all," the director answered, his tone almost too high. "I promise! "

Kuroko shook his head slowly. Here they go again.

...

When Takao had said "just a photoshoot" , Kuroko wondered if he had known how much work it had entitled.

Probably not, judging by how the male looked almost exhausted at the moment, he probably hadn't.

Kuroko couldn't say much about himself either with his whole body now slumped to the floor.

"Perfect!" The squealing lead photographer said as she finished up Momoi's solo pictures, several of them including motorcycle attire.

"Alright," the female lead said to the studio. " Everyone take five. But come back prepared. We have to get all we can while we have daylight!"

Kuroko wondered how Kise did this on an everyday basis.

"How is this in any way 'simple '?!" Kasamatsu was growling even as he tried to stretch out his limbs from their stiff posture.

"I'm not even sure if this is worth the pay," Takao sighed from his position beside Kuroko, laying on the floor.

"This may get more interesting though," Momoi's voice said then, above them. Kuroko looked up at her, and then to the direction where she was looking. The other males followed his lead.

"I'm not sure if they understand that we're high school students," Takao said, his eyes widening at their apparent new outfits.

" I think it was **_because_** we're high school students," Momoi said, her index finger tapping against her lip as she looked on. "I think it'll work."

"A bit too close to the landing zone, though, " Himuro commented to their right and Kuroko had to agree though he did wonder about the analogy.


	13. Same Feelings?

The photoshoot lit up the fanbase like a wildfire.

Kuroko was almost scared of how ferocious the girls were being as they sat in front of him.

"I LOVE THIS ONE!" Girl C screamed, her light brown eyes growing wide as she held the modeling magazine right in front of her face, almost inhaling it. A picture of a clad in leather Takao was in danger of being drooled on by her. The motorcycle attire ones were insanely popular. He remembered they were also Momoi's favorites.

"I KNOW!" Girl B squealed beside her in an almost screech. Her bright green eyes were zeroing in on the page of Himuro 's motorcycle attired picture. The male was clad in black and leaning against the large silver motorcycle, a piercing expression on his face even though the sunglasses and other aspects still protected his identity.

Kuroko once again wondered how they managed to do that.

"THIS is THE ONE, FOOLS!" Girl A finally screamed, slamming her magazine down on the desk, startling the other girls around her. Laid on the desk, in prominent display, was a large scale picture of all of them, walking in a whist of cherry blossom trees, the blossoms whirling around them. Each were wearing a matching yet varied version of a high school uniform. The magical work that made their identities still unknown was still in high effect.

"They're in their PERFECT outfits right HERE! " Girl A proclaimed loudly and almost proudly. The other girls looked at her in awe. "OF COURSE they're all high school students! And OF COURSE they all go to the same school!" Her eyes gleamed almost maniacally and Kuroko almost shifted away in worry as the girl giggled "Just THINK of the possibilities!"

Kuroko's eyes slightly widened at the look of life creating rapture on the faces on the others girls. As if their leader would lead them into wonderful and amazing unexplored territory.

"Of course!" Girl C squealed in happiness.

"THAT'S AMAZING, BOSS! " Girl B exclaimed, her eyes glistening.

"Wow..." Girl D sighed in happiness, hugging the picture to her chest.

Kuroko kept shaking his head as he stared at them, cautious as he slightly nudged his desk farther from the loud group.

..

He was still being cautious as he exited the school building that evening. Practice had been cut short for some reason Kuroko couldn't understand but accepted. He needed to talk to the others in his group.

Apparently he wasn't the only one thinking such thoughts.

...

Takao looked just as surprised as Kuroko as they ran into each other in the neighborhood by the Majiburger.

"You too?" Takao asked, not even trying to hide his reason. Kuroko nodded, a smile slowly making itself known on his face.

Takao reddened slightly as followed Kuroko into the restaurant.

Where they were greeted by multiple other voices that made BOTH of them smile.

Apparently they had all thought the same things after all.


	14. Interrogations?

"Kuroko? "

Feet. Observe. Feet. Race.

"Kuroko? "

Spin. Redirect. Race. Observe Closer.

"KUROKO! "

Kuroko spun in surprise as Riko 's yelling finally broke his concentration on the practice game. He immediately sweatdropped when he saw her angry expression.

"You," she growled. "Were supposed to take a break twenty minutes ago!" She yelled, clutching her clip board to her chest, as if trying not to hit him with it. "What am I going to do if you overexert yourself and can't play next game?! "

Kuroko sighed and was just about to apologize when another voice echoed through the gym.

"Actually, he was supposed to be in CLUB ACTIVITIES twenty minutes ago!" Kuroko wondered as his basic instinct told him to hide behind Hyuuga for protection as Honey marched her way over to him.

She somehow made it to him before he could hide.

"I TOLD you we were meeting early this entire week while we get ready for the festival! " Her ferocious eyes dared him to comment. He didn't.

This seemed to slightly calm her and her worried companions behind her.

There was an awkward silence...

Kiyo, seeming to finally find his voice, spoke carefully. "Sorry for barging in on your practice, Tetsuya -kun. In truth, we all got kinda worried when all of you guys were late. But I guess we kinda forgot that you're on the actual basketball teams as well." He rubbed the back of his head, laughing lightly in embarrassment. "Our bad."

"You don't have to rush, just know that we'll all probably be staying late tonight then." A soft smile formed on the young man's face and Kuroko couldn't help but smile back. He found he rather liked Kiyo -kun.

"Just join us in the club room when you're ready, okay?" Kiyo requested and Kuroko nodded.

"Sure."

"And, don't worry about Queen Bee, over here," he then stage whispered to him "I'll take care of her."

Kuroko couldn't help the small chuckle that rose from him when Honey narrowed her eyes at their suspicious activity.

"I'll be there as soon as I finish practice," Kuroko vowed, his eyes still glowing in amusement.

Kiyo winked, "It's a date. "

"Kuroko, " Riko spoke up then, just as Kiyo was beginning to turn and join his club members. "Who are your...friends? And why are they here during practice?"

A bolt of rival electricity seemed to strike to life between the two women as Honey immediately straightened and turned her full attention to Riko.

"My name," Honey spoke, her hands coming time rest on her hips. "Is Honey Kurasaki. I am the head of the Karaoke Live club."

Riko 's agitation was becoming almost frightening as a very chilling smile glossed over her expression. "I am the basketball couch, Aida Riko." With that eerily pleasant greeting, her gaze then turned to Kuroko, freezing him in place.

"I had both idea my players were joining new and...interesting clubs lately." Her voice rose every hair on Kuroko's body and had her entire team cowering in fear.

"Hey," Kiyo spoke up then from beside his club leader. "We do apologize for the interruption." He seemed to really sense the thick tension on the air, unlike the female beside him. "Kuroko is welcome to stay and practice without any further interruptions on our part."

Riko seemed to calm, the tension in the room dissipating like a veil of smoke and Kuroko glanced a very thankful look at Kiyo, who winked back even as he finally pushed his Queen Bee out of the gym door, despite her protests.

Kuroko sighed in a "thank goodness" kind of manner- only to turn and find the curious looks of his teammates. Well, this would take a long time to explain, though some of it had to be omitted.

...

"So, you've started hanging out with some new friends lately," Riko started, her gaze on Kuroko as they all stood around him, already showered and ready to leave when their rampant curiosities were peaked.

"And they convinced you to join this club with them?" Hyuuga finished, his eyebrow arched. Kuroko nodded, content that he wasn't lying, just omitting information.

Hyuuga nodded, apparently understanding that it was as much as they were getting from Kuroko.


	15. Too Much Exercise?

"Ahh! Kuroko!" Takao whined even as Kuroko straightened stood to his full height, his arms still linked with Takao from their back-stretching exercises.

"That huuuurt! " Takao complained as they finally finished the exercises and slumped down to the grass with a high sound of relief.

"You're too tense, Takao-kun, " The teal headed male next to him spoke and Takao sighed at his friend. There was no way he was going to make some kind of "short " joke about Kuroko; he wasn't ready to die from one of Kuroko's attacks to the stomach just yet.

"Hey!"

Takao turned with Kuroko as they both found their very angry Karaoke Live Club's Dicta- uhh... President watching them in an angry pose. Her hands resting on her hips as she glared.

"Are you really not done, yet?" She demanded, making Takao sigh and try to hide a wry grin as he saw through her mean act.

"We're coming now, Kurasaki-kun," Kuroko spoke politely to Honey, who looked quickly to the side, her face lightly flushing. Standing to join his friends, Takao placed both hands behind his head as they walked, taking on a carefree walk.

"Sorry we're late," Kuroko spoke beside him as they both entered the Seiren auditorium.

"Just get up here!" Kasamatsu growled from his place with Momoi and the others on stage. Kasamatsu's tsundere growl contested with the warm looks from his other friends behind their leader.

"Hai, hai," Takao said softly, climbing onto the stage, Kuroko smiling softly beside him.

"Alright already!" Honey's loud voice boomed throughout the auditorium as she yelled, her hands placed on her hips. Her phone was on the music stereo, the song ready on the Ipod.

"Let's get started!"

...

"Why do we keep doing these things to ourselves? We're killing ourselves."

Kasamatsu didn't even try to answer Takao's obviously rhetorical question. His gaze momentarily went to his friend splayed out on the studio floor, his arms folded behind his head and his eyes closed. But his voice was serious.

He could hardly disagree with his friend; the same thoughts had crossed his mind. They had had advanced practiced from basketball because of their upcoming tournament, then they would practice at Karaoke Live Club - and now, here they were at the studio, working themselves even harder. It was dangerous to work themselves as they has been doing.

They had to find a way to get some sort of breaks, somehow, or else they'd all end up working themselves into fevers.

"All done!"

Kasamatsu blinked as he looked up at their director and Momoi, who both looked ecstatic in an eerily suspicious way. It was a sign that caused his stomach to do an unsettling flip in his stomach.

What had they done?


	16. Specials?

"A music video?" Kasamatsu parroted their director in shock, his hands on his hips. The director seemed to be getting used to Kasamatsu's outbursts as he held his hands up in a it's-not-my-fault fashion and a small, worried smile on his face.

"It's something that none of you have tried yet."

Kasamatsu shook his head and was ready to tell the director the idea was nuts when a hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned to Himuro and saw the male sharing a "why not" look with Takao. Kasamatsu looked at Kuroko, who had begun apparently looking toward him, along with Momoi, in barely withheld excitement of the idea of their own music video.

Well...if their identities were still secret...then...

"Ah," Kasamatsu growled, his palm coming to his forehead . " Fine!"

He grudging turned back go their director in question. "What song is it?"

...

"I should have known it was going to be Halloween centered," Kasamatsu said tiredly as they all finally left the studio that late afternoon. "Jeeze."

"It's so weird to think it's already almost Halloween," Momoi smiled to his right, bundled up in her coat as they all were in their own coats. "That means it's also almost time for Christmas!"

"And the Winter Cup," Himuro smiled and the group began to adamantly talk about the upcoming events, their steps leading them absentmindedly to the Meji Burger where they continued to fall as they sat and ate, completely forgetting any others worries or cares around them.

"Speaking of Halloween," Momoi spoke as they each threw out their food and proceeded out the door, thanking the staff as they did so. "Each club has to do an attraction for the upcoming festival, right?"

The males paused mid-step at her words.

"That's _right_ ," Takao spoke in surprise. "The Karaoke Live Club needs to participate!" The statement seemed to elate him. " I wonder what we can do!"

The group resumed walking then, a feeling of excited anticipation in the air as they contemplated what their cub would be doing for a Halloween special.


	17. Music Video?

"YES!"

Kuroko turned with the rest of his team, and stared at Riko in confusion at the screamed praise coming from their coach. They had all been leaving the locker room, ready to head home after practice with Riko scrolling through something on her phone as she was waited for them. Now, her eyes were lit with fire and glee as she stared down into her phone and Kuroko heard the instrumental chorus of Mystery Skull's _"Ghost"_ fill the gym.

Kuroko blinked in surprise. Why had the video been published so quickly? Curious, he followed the rest of his team as they filed all into position behind the bench Riko where was seated to see what the music was.

Using his lack of presence, Kuroko took a seat silently to Riko's right so that he could see the tiny screen clearly even as it shook in Riko's trembling with excitement fingers. Riko's finger moved slightly as she re-winded the video to restart and the music started in its instrumental chorus.

"They're profiles!" Riko squealed and her eyes shined as small scenes came onto the screen with each of the members for their own profiles. Their names had been shortened in a way that they themselves wouldn't be confused and that their fans could easily remember.

"Kuroko" had been shortened to simply "Ko."

"Takao" had changed to "Kao."

"Himuro" was now "Mu."

"Kasamatsu" was now simply "Matsu."

And "Momoi" had become "Moi."

Small likes and dislikes were listed by their shortened names and the quick but pleasing (still identity hiding) snapshots of each of them against a dark backdrop that looked similar to a dark castle in the background. The information was not large but each slide of persons seemed to make Riko almost hyperventilate in joy and Kuroko couldn't help but smile.

He had, at first, worried at the similarity in names to their own, but Takao had told him that the chance that any person in the world would connect a group of normal Japanese teenagers in a small Karaoke group (who didn't even attend school together) to an world-famous performance group was pretty slim. He found he couldn't really argue with that logic.

"These are the members of that dance group you like?" Hyuuga asked as they all watched the profiles flip through the five teens.

"Rhythm," Koganei and Riko both corrected him, their eyes glued to the screen in front of them with a powerful intensity.

"It's starting," Izuki spoke softly, his curious gaze also on the screen and the changing view it held. Kuroko also turned his full attention from his classmates and onto the screen in front of him, his stomach clenching in anticipation.

The scene began and all eyes watched as a van came into the scene, its jumpy and inertia filled movements matching with the beat of the music that was still playing. Inside the van, five teens sat as their manager drove them to what might have been to another appointment or important event.

The van jumped suddenly and the teens turned to their manager in confusion. They all filed out of the van, casting exasperated looks at their manager as the male rose up a hand with five fingers and kneeled to begin removing their blown tire. Turning slightly to the teens, the manager pointed behind them and toward a large and seemingly abandoned manor that had appeared to suddenly come into existence behind the teens, who turned around in surprise at its presence. The manager was going back to work and speaking even as the five teens walked away from him and carefully to the large mansion that they didn't remember seeing on the side of the road or behind them; the two-story could have been there for centuries with its unwell appearance, but still seemed to have some kind of caretaker as if had not fallen in any complete ruin.

A certain, somewhat long-black-haired male seemed to jump forward from his group, his excitement obvious in his large smile and rushing steps. Said male reached the door first and knocked on the old wood as if he were waiting on a ghost to open it and wave at him in just as much enthusiasm.

Kuroko smiled softly at Takao's actions even as the group in the video trailed carefully and cautiously behind their excited lead, the door beneath Takao's hand slowly opening into dark and silent scenery.

"That's Kao," Riko said excitedly yet fondly and Kuroko couldn't help but smile once more as he thought of Riko's normal reactions to Takao and her apparent reactions to this "Kao."

As the teens slowly entered the house, the door shut behind them, causing them all to freeze and Kuroko saw Riko tense next to him as a luminescent blue color filled the room around the frightened teens. A light blue type of ring began forming slightly above them and close to the ceiling that made the teens huddle together as the light blue ring slowly lowered toward them.

A scene cut in then, showing the teens in a room of light blue mist, teal lights, and mirrors. Each teen looked into one of the mirrors softly, their lips moving as the words fell from their lips. The camera then snapped toward one of the mirrors, its reflected scene bringing them back into the moment with the ring of bright blue surrounding them.

Light figures of small ghosts made themselves known in the light blue ring surrounding them, their bodies traveling around them as if inspecting them. The eyes of the figures slowly looked over them, their search finally ending with them surrounding the small, teal headed male at the end at they began to swirl around him in a majestic speed.

"They're after Ko!" Riko almost squealed, her eyes glowing with excitement as she watched.

"They might think he's one of their own," Hyuuga commented, watching with his own level of intensity as the light-blue haired male turned to his friends in shock and reached out through the tornado of blue that seemed to spiral around him in possession. He watched the one he had recognized as "Matsu" reach toward the younger male, their fingers meeting just as a flash of bright sky-colored light took over the screen and the remaining teens were left staring at the empty spot in shock.

"No!" Riko growled, her fingers tightening on her phone even as she bit her thumb nail. "Find him!"

"So cool," Koganei spoke softly behind her as he watched the teens immediately race around the mansion to find Ko, their searching frantic and the music building.

As Kao ran passed a mirror that hung on one the hall walls, the camera zoomed in on the mirror and back into the secret mirror room of sky colored lights and its now sole occupant. Ko sang softly as he watched his teammates be chased and search for him frantically through the large manor. His gaze rested of one mirror in particular that showed Matsu getting chased down a hallway as the teal-haired boy whispered that he might just disappear.

"Ko got a solo!" Riko cheered happily and Kuroko tried to stop his cheeks from burning through. When Tino-san had approached him with the solo he had been adamant about his refusal but the others had worn him down enough that he finally let them have their wishes, although it was something that had been worrying him ever since it was recorded. He was almost weary with relief at the positive feedback from his team.

The song drifting from the screen began to hit its climax and Kuroko turned back to the screen, his secret jitters goading him as he now watched Kasamatsu be chased to the dead end of the hallway. Even as Matsu backed away from the ghosts approaching him, his teammates were scared into him from others directions and it was obvious they had been out-planned. The specters now almost circled them.

As the spirits slowly trapped the teens, Riko leaned forward, her teeth still chewing on the nail she held to her teeth. The entire team seemed to lean forward in fevered anticipation at the possibility of the group's end. Silence reigned in the gym besides the music coming from Riko's phone.

Another flash of bright blue and suddenly pale arms were outstretching in a protective position in front of the group. Ko was standing as large as he could, his arms and legs stretched out to keep his friends safe from the specters in front of them. Fear and determination glittered in his eyes of the clearest lakes.

As the teal array of spirits paused, a lone figure slowly made itself known in the group as it stepped forward with an almost human like figure. It's hand slowly reached forward, making every person watching tense as Ko flinched, ready for a battle..….and saw the spirit's open palm in front of him. His eyes widened as a soft, aqua colored locket glinted in the spirit's hand.

A memory seem to take hold over the scene then as a younger Kuroko now walked forward in what looked like a funeral, his small suit completely black. The boy walked forward a few steps until he reached a taller, black casket. Instead of placing any kind of flower on it like the others around him, the boy placed on the glossy casing a single, tiny, aqua colored locket.

Seemingly in a daze, the present Ko slowly reached forward for the locket in the ghost's palm, his fingers shaking…

Until a pale hand gripped his wrist and yanked him away.

Kao didn't waste any time as he yanked Ko behind him, the rest of their group already running ahead of them. A large explosion of furious and shining dark sapphire began behind them, only frightening the teens into an even faster run as the figures pursued them.

The cut in scenes of the beautiful mirror room from before shattering had the entire Seiren team on the edge, the teens in the shattering room performing an intense routine even as their space came into complete chaos around them.

The double doors of the manor were almost thrown off their hinges in the teens' rapid run from the mansion as they finally reached freedom, surprising their manager, who had just finished changing the tire, with their intensity.

The teens seemed to waste no time in jumping into the van, Kao yanking Ko protectively in with him as Matsu ordered their manager to jump in and step on the gas in an urgency that could be seen even if it wasn't heard over the music. The confused and troubled manager nodded quickly, sliding into the driver's seat quickly and speeding away from the manor as the van left a haze of dust behind it.

As the music calmed and the large manor slowly faded into the distance, the teens watched out the back window, their silence soft but lasting as the manor seemed to slowly disappear into its hiding place once more.

What the teens could not see, however, was the teal haired young man in the upper window as he watched the van slowly fade into the distance, a small, aqua locket gripped tightly in his hands. As a tear raced down the male's pale cheek, the locket in his hand opened, a picture of two light-blue headed boys laughing stared back up at him. His thumb rubbed softly over the inscription in the locket and a soft memory of the tall male giving the locket to a young Kuroko took fold as those fingers disappeared and the locket fell to the floor, the sound echoing in the cold and empty house.

" _Big brother will love you forever."_

….

Silence conquered the gym once more as the video ended and Kuroko turned to his team to see their reactions.

"That.." Riko spoke, her voice soft as she let her arm fall and her phone rest in her lap. "Was…PERFECT!" Her surprising shout of praise was accompanied by those from his teammates and Kuroko didn't think he could take it all.

"That was really cool!" Koganei shouted, his smile wide. "It's really different than their other ones. A good different!" The second part was added at Riko's look although Koganei smiled shyly.

"It was good, I guess," Kagami spoke and Kuroko almost keeled over. "They had some good footwork."

"What this band called?" Izuki asked Riko, his phone in his hands. "I'm going to follow them now."

"Rhythm," Riko and Koganei both answered and Kuroko slung his bag over his shoulder as they all began to stand up next to him, Riko stretching. His stomach was warm and he tried to contain his happiness at their powerful approval of his hard work.

They had actually _liked_ it! They didn't laugh at his solo but _cheered_! They _liked_ it!

He tried to contain it as they all exited the gym, his smile still breaking through in a rare and unlimited display.


	18. Tsundere

"Oi! Kuroko!" Kuroko smiled as he paused in his walk home to allow Takao to catch up to him. He was surprised to find Himuro right beside Takao.

"Good afternoon, Takao-Kun, Himuro-kun." He said, giving polite bows to both.

Takao smiled and bumped the smaller teen's shoulder light. "Don't be so formal, Kuroko. We're all closer than that, right?"

Kuroko didn't know how to answer and was thankfully saved from answering as a sudden knocking sound beside them had all three teens turning to find Kasamatsu and Momoi in the Maji Burger they had been just about to pass.

"And what are you two love birds doing here all by yourselves?" Takao grinned as he, Kuroko, and Himuro entered the restaurant.

Kuroko arched a eyebrow at the goading male. "I could ask the same question to you and Himuro suddenly walking up togther, Takao-kun."

Takao whirled in indignation. "No! That's no- We just ran into each other! I was on my way to get a _poster_!"

"And so did we," Kasamatsu sighed at Takao, who didn't seem to know how else to counter their leader and in turn started to whine about Kuroko's "betrayal".

As the teens all finally recieved their food, Kasamatsu turned his attention to Momoi, who was chewing a french fry as her fingers rapidly scrolled on her phone screen. "What's the status of that music video, Momoi?" Kasamatsu asked in a way that _sounded_ uninterested but his eyes betrayed him as they sharpened on their information broker.

"It's amazing is what it is," Momoi spoke, a wide smile turning her face as she flipped her phone to face them and Kuroko noticed the crazy high number of hits and views that the video had received in just the last twenty-four hours. The entire group was shocked and Momoi continued. "It's already ranked as being one of the top watched videos worldwide right now; millions of people are commenting and sharing at the same time and those people are commenting and sharing to even more people."

Even as they spoke, the young high schoolers in a booth behind them began to play the video to their friends and Kuroko couldn't help the blush as he heard himself start on his solo as the video continued.

It was so surreal the teens lapsed into a comfortbale silence as they finished eating and listened to the young teens behind them enjoy their performance.

...

"What do you think will happen, now?" Takao asked the group as they all walked in the general direction of their houses. They each already knew where each other lived and knew each other's families. It was kind of funny how just a few months ago they had barely known each other mostly.

Kasamatsu shrugged at the loaded question, staring up into the stars that twinkled above them in the manic chaos of the solar system. "I don't know." A pause before he continued in a slightly unsure and gruff voice.

"Maybe we could...go one step further or...something like that, I guess."

Momoi and Takao seem to chuckle softly at their tsundere leader as he tried so hard to express his ideas to those he cared about. Kuroko and Himuro smiled softly, warmly. "We should just," Kasamatsu still tried. "Enjoy ourselves-or something like that. You guys know what I mean!" He yelled the last part when Takao's snickers finally broke through and made him flush.

"We do understand, Kasamatsu-kun," Kuroko spoke softly and Kasamatsu felt his face redden again at his team's smiles toward him.

"Good."


	19. Haunted Houses and Tetsuya

Akashi Seijuro wasn't used to being surprised-Ever. But, when he had decided to call his former teammates for a night out at the Seiren festival to celebrate an early Halloween, he was surprised to hear Tetsuya's answer.

"I apologize, Akashi-kun," Kuroko had answered him, sounds of others in the background barking orders as the young male tried to be louder as he could be. "However, I am running one of the haunted houses tonight with the Karaoke Live club." A pause as he heard a familiar voice in the background call for Tetsuya. "Oh, I must go, Akashi-kun. Please enjoy the festival."

His reaction had been an immediate round-up of the Generation of Miracles and a visit to this attraction that his Tetsuya was hosting.

He was surprised again at the confirmation of his team at the voices he had heard in the background during his call with Tetsuya. Tetsuya had been meeting with some of the kids from other teams? Interesting.

And now, here he was, waiting outside of a dark and large manor that the school had rented out for the night at the apparent request of Tetsuya's club since it was only a block away from the school. It wasn't an overly large house, just bigger than average and most likely very spacious on the inside. The two story may not have been seen as scary when it was chosen for use with its tan paint and slightly darker colored shutters, but after some apparently hard work from Tetsuya's club, it was turned into a darker setting.

Using the setting sun as an addition to its fear-inducing sight, large cobwebs hung here and there over the manor in dark, odd places. Planted plants that had long since taken their last breaths of Carbon were knocked over around the manor's porch. Its shutters seemed to be cracked and hanging on just barely. The lights on in both stories flickered eerily as loud, crazed sounds of complete chaos and frightened students filled the evening air that was filled with anticipation in the line to enter the attraction as it curved around the corner of the street. There were groups of at most seven being led in at one time.

"What is this?!" Kise demanded from beside him, his eyes stuck on the alarming horror attraction that loomed in front of them. Students' screams and cries erupted from inside the structure even as he yelled. The terrifying sounds were exciting and at the same time terrifying the students behind them. Kise felt his knees shake slightly and refused to admit it even as Akashi spoke from beside him.

"Don't yell, Ryouta." Akashi's soft remark completely cut of Aomine's angry response he was about to unleash on the blonde and Kise remembered there were more frightening things he should be worried about, like the small redhead beside him. But...still.

The green haired male beside them said nothing, only sighing in what appeared to be agitation as he pushed his glasses further up his nose with his taped fingers. The purple-haired giant beside him seemed fully content with ignoring them and putting all of his attention toward finishing his bag of chips before they entered the attraction that would make him put it away.

Kise shook his head, not finished with his demands but making sure he kept his eyes away from the small redhead next him who could kill him with a look and on keeping his voice level. "But why are Kurokochhi and Kasamatsu-senpai doing this _together_?!" Kise felt his temper flare as he thought of it. "Neither of them are into this kind of thing! And they didn't even invite me to hang out with their new club they formed! I can do karaoke!"

"For once," Midorima spoke from his position on Akashi's left even as they all shifted forward in line as the next group entered the manor. He had watched minutes before as an earlier group had gone running from the doors at full speed, the attraction apparently that intense. "You have a good question in your head, forgetting the ending statement, however." A picture of his long-haired and sharp-eyed partner floated into Midorima's mind and he shook his head, drawing Akashi's attention. "I can see Takao enjoying the experience of the attraction, but certianly never actually participating in it; it would be too much work for him.

"Satsuki didn't even tell me her and Tetsu were doing anything," Aomine growled as he rubbed the back of his head and reluctantly admired the handiwork of the scare-factor that was at work in their haunted house even as another group came running and screaming, full speed, out the mansion. What the hell were they running from?!

"Do they even hang out together?" Murasakibara asked in a bored tone as he continued chewing his chips and looking distinterestedly at the manor and its freaked out victims that rushed passed him every time the manor's doors opened and set them free. "I didn't think Mu-kun even knew them that well."

"They must know each other quite well to be in a club together," Akashi spoke, his gaze returning to the dark attraction that sat in front of them as the open doors released more frightened teens running into the night and let in the group right before them. "If, however, they have all taken the time to set up an attraction this large, a lot of hard work and time must have accompanied it."

Midorima sighed then and shifted his glasses once more. His question echoed a darker thought in the group. "And about this apparent new club Kuroko has joined with Takao and the others? What will we do about that? It's something that none of us knew about."

Akashi didn't smile, but Midorima noticed the gleam in his eyes that could sometimes be scarier than the sight of a thousand haunted houses. "We will check it out, of course." A smile then that didn't lighten the fearful expression in any way but seemed to sink into it. "We have to watch over our own. Especially, Tetsuya."

A second later, the dark expression was gone. The cool, intelligent Akashi now took its place as they all turned toward the opening manor door, ignoring its group of teens that scurried out of it in stages of fear.

"Let us see for ourselves," Akashi smiled then and Midorima realized it was a real smile. An Akashi smile. "If this manor is as scary as it seems."

Midorima and the rest of the GoM nodded, following their leader into the manner and all of its uncertainty.


	20. Haunted Houses!

**_Thank you all for reading! Please enjoy and review!_**

* * *

The first sight that the group encountered as the doors shut behind them was not a horrifying and terrible monster at all, but a quiet, well-kept parlor that surprised them. A calming fire was already blazing comfortably in the fireplace, casting long silent shadows with the set furniture that decorated the room into an older, but well kept den of some sort. It was eerily empty as if the all the residents of the room had suddenly dissipated, nothing making a sound except the crackling fire and the crystal chandelier above them as it swung slightly. Slowly.

The sight gave Kise a bad feeling already but Akashi seemed unaffected.

Dismissing the room, Akashi turned toward the staircase to their right that branched upward and into a large hallway that expanded both ways, left and right, down into separate halls. He began to walk up the steps carefully, his attention readily on whatever may jump out at them at any moment in time. His team followed his lead, each making careful and paranoid observations of their own as they walked upward. They were almost halfway up when a sudden, soft voice spoke and scared most of the group into jumping three foot in the air.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" The soft, sudden voice became familiar on the second question as the teens turned and found Kuroko staring up at them from his position less then two steps behind them. When had he gotten there?

"Kurokochhi!" Kise cried, starting to race forward toward the blue-haired male, ready to hug him. Aomine's grip on his jacket kept him in place as the male grolwed.

"Shut up! He's in character!"

Turning back to Kuroko in surprise, Kise noticed that he was wearing a kind of outfit. Tailored pants led upward into a white, slightly criss-cross decoration of slight blue and tan on a white long sleeve shirt, which was surfaced by a similar dark colored vest to finish off the ensemble.

The outfit made him look like the most adorable and slightly old-timey British gentlemen and Kise wanted to hug him even more. However, the blue-haired teen seemed to be nervous about something as he looked around them anxiously and began to walk up to their group and speak.

"Please, you have to leave." the boy said urgently but Akashi stepped forward.

"First," Akashi spoke, his gaze looking confused at his host's haste. "What is your name?"

"Riyo," Ku- Riyo spoke quickly, still glancing over his shoulder. "Riyo Yuki."

"Yuki," Akashi said and got the satisfaction of seeing a small flush dust Kuroko's cheeks as he nodded.

Before Akashi could continue speaking, a sound similar to a maniacle cackle of laughter echoed eerily throughout the manor, causing Kise to get goosebumps and bump up against Aomine, who almost harshly shoved him away but he had turned and seen that Tetsu's face was now pale with fear. Behind the teen, the shadows that were being casted from the formerly friendly fireplace began to grow dark and longer even as a particular shadow began to climb the wall and the flame in the fireplace completely went out.

"Go!" The pale teen suddenly shouted at their group and began running at full speed up the stairs into their group even as the dark and crazed laughter got louder and more hysterical. The boy grabbed Akashi's hand and yanked him along in his run, the team following him in a confused and slightly terrified pace.

Behind them, the crystal chandelier crashed to the floor in the now pitch black darkness. The sounds of objects being thrown and shattered increased as they ran up the stairs in the complete pitch blackness and Kise heard something that was probably a picture frame shatter on the wall right beside him. How the boy guiding them knew where they were going was a complete mystery in the cloak of darkness they were shrouded inside of.

When the team finally reached the top of the stairs, the house had settled into an eerie silence in its pitch black darkness that was slightly more terrifying than before. Taking in deep breaths, Riyo stood straight and seemed to look around them as if waiting for something to lash out at them from the darkness. Akashi wondered if this haunted house was supposed to be that thrilling right off.

The teal-headed male turned to stare at their group for a second and in the pitch black darkness, his bright, sky colored eyes were almost glowing. Their intense glow was entrancing and caused the entire group to listen to his every word as if each male was ensnared by it. "You guys have to be careful," the boy whispered and Akashi as well as the rest of the group leaned forward slightly to hear the concerned whisper. "She's listening at all times. Please, get out of he-"

The sudden sound of a door being burst open and slamming against the wall shocked them all and had the young teal-headed male growing pale once more. He turned to them and yelled then, even as he kept looking over his shoulder with wide blue depths. "Run! I'll keep her away!"

Akashi could hardly get an exclamation passed his lips as Riyo ran in the direction of the terrible crack of sound that had shattered the silence and now seemed to have the entire house coming back to life in its ferocity. The floor beneath them began to make deep cracking noises as it shook and spasmed and Akashi worried it would completely cave in under him.

Midorima grabbed his arm and began to follow Kise who was running in the direction Riyo had ordered them to run even as he could hear something begin running after them with dark, heavy footsteps. He turned as he was running and felt his heart slam against his ribs when dark, sharp and predatary blue eyes blinked into existence a few feet away from them.

It wasn't Kuroko.

Their pursuer increased his speed and Midorima pushed Akashi ahead of him as they ran faster-

And ran blindly into a room.

The door slammed behind them, causing Kise and Aomine to jump and yelp. Midorima heard a familiar grunt in the black room as something slammed against the closed door. As their pursuer slammed his fists against and rammed his shoulder against the door, a familiar voice whispered beside them.

"Hurry! This way!"

Without thinking, Midorima followed Takao's voice, his suspicious team trailing after him slightly reluctant but not wanting to stay in a pitch black room either as the door was slowly destroyed by their pursuer. They followed the sounds of the male guiding them quickly through the darkness and Midorima breathed a sigh of relief as the group saw some light sliver in from a slightly flickering light blub in front of them. He didn't know where they were now, but at least they weren't in complete darkness. He turned his gaze to Takao- and froze.

Takao looked as if he were a stylish pauper. The tan tan of his trousers shifted into the matching tan of his tan over coat that covered a black long sleeve shirt beneath it. His tan and black beret completed the ensemble. He could have come straight out of an old Oliver Twist movie. It fit him though,oddly enough.

"We have to keep walking," Takao spoke, his gaze looking around them in the same alert and frantic way that their friend before had. He paused and turned, giving them a small, charismatic smile then even through his apparent fear. "By the way, the name's Kouri."

Akashi nodded and began to speak when a blood-curdling scream ricocheted throughout the mansion. The scream caused their new guide to step back and rubber neck around him in shock- and that was when Akashi realized it.

The banging against the door had gone completely silent.

"Come on!" Takao yelled, running into the darkness of the hall in front of them. Just how large was this place?! Cursing, Akashi followed behind Mirdorima and the others as they ran after their frightened guide.

The light that had given them solace just moments before crashed to the floor behind them even as a maniacal cackle of high, feminine laughter screamed...right...behind them. Aomine and Kise screamed, pumping their legs to run faster from the sound and the rapid noises that now followed them as well. Murisakibara was running silently right behind them, his breath coming in faster pants from exertion.

Midorima paused though, when he heard the impact of his current teammate slamming into someone else in front of them in the hall they were presently running down.

"Kouri!" Another male voice shouted in surprise and Akashi saw Murisakibara striaghten at the sound of Himuro's shocked voice. Akashi saw enough through the dark to see that the other teen was dressed in a style that was an ensemble that held a mix of Riyo's cut and clean style of outfit and Kouri's more casual and bad-boy style. Both boys froze at the happy feminine squeal that came to life somewhere down the hall behind them.

"Lee! There's no time!" Kouri yelled, grabbing his friend's hand and yanking him along as the cackle of insane female laughter shrieked into life closer behind them, making Kise wail and Aomine to shoot past all of them to the front of the pack as they resumed running. "She's here!"

"Who?! WHO IS IT?!" Akashi demanded as they ran faster down the corridor and turned a sharp corner. As they ran on Akashi heard the sounds of an "eek" of rats, times a hundred fold. Murasakibara hoped there weren't really rats behind them-he hated them. A glimpse behind showed him, however a wave of dark, rodent creatures pursuing them and he pumped his legs top go faster even as he could suddenly also see dark, icy eyes in the dark, pursuing them as well.

"Don't look back!" Murisakibara allowed his gaze to snap forward at Akashi's command even though his heart thudded in his chest.

Another blood-curdling scream shook through the house- suddenly coming from in front of them and Kise wondered when the torment would finally end. How could they fight something they couldn't even SEE?!

Kouri and Lee froze, both looking shocked and freezing at the scream that, this time, sounded directly in front of them and Kise, to his horror, could make out a woman in front of them in the barely lit darkness. She was looking down but he could see long, bloody curls water-falling over her shoulders in the flickering and barely alive light bulb that swung over them. He heard the maniacal cackle of laughter escape her mouth as he saw her shoulders jerk with each mad sound. Her head slowly rose and Kise saw wild, gold eyes that make him shudder at the insanity held in them.

He took it back! He didn't WANT to see her!

Her mouth apparently open in a terrifying circle, the female screamed and began to surge toward them in chilling and jerky animated movements, her screaming laughter echoing off the halls again as a dark shadow with predatory chilled blue eyes walked behind her, avoiding the bare flashing light above them.

"HERE! KOURI! LEE!" Both boys whirled at the sudden shout and Kise's head whipped around at Kasamatsu's booming voice.

Wasting no time, the group raced toward the opened door at the right to them, Kasamatsu beckoning them in a hasty, fearful voice. Kouri and Lee took either sides of the door and ushered the teens in, until they all inside. Just as both boys turned to enter, soft female laughter chuckled behind them. The light bulb that had been flickering above the room,giving its best at life, died in a final, viscous blast of light that illuminated the bloodied princess behind Kouri and Lee- and her chilling smile. Blue eyes blinked into life behind her.

Chills raced through every soul in the room as she spoke. "Not you two."

Without anyone touching it, the door slammed shut with a resounding sound and Kasamatsu swore, trying to run forward and open it.

Kise noticed, even as his heart slammed a beat in his chest, that Kasamatsu was dressed in crisp, old fashioned but not overly fashionable suit, similar to the one Kuroko had been wearing. Except Kasamatsu had included the over jacket on his own vest and chosen to wear a beret that matched his suit as it graced his head. Also that a bed laid in the room they were currently in along with a bare dresser in the corner. It looked like a spare bedroom of some sort. The sole light in the room resided from an oil lamp lit on the small table that sat by the bed, the glow was meek, but helped.

"No, Tori!"

Akashi and the rest of the GoM turned in shock at the sweet, but loud female voice that shouted behind them-and found Momoi standing in the doorway of a door that seemed to connect the room they currently resided in into another room.

Again, just how big WAS this place?!

Aomine felt his eyebrows raising slowly as he took in Momoi's outfit, momentarily not thinking about the situation. She was dressed in an outfit that fit into the same period as her cohorts. A long white dress made the base color of her dress, a layer of darker, patterned tan colored silk slid over the white base and a soft, white beret graced her silky pink curls. She looked beautiful.

However, her beautiful pink eyes were on the male trying to open the door, the worry in them evident for all to see. Along with the love of their past as she spoke to him, screamed at him. "Tori, let go! There's nothing we can do!"

"I can't leave them, Freya!" Tori yelled back to the female, his voice desperate-until the door began to surge in and slammed against him.

The male was barely able to hold the door from flying open as a wild, screaming laughter entered the room and the entire house began to shake once more. Kasamatsu tried to slam to the door but a strong masculine and pale hand held it open and Midormia wondered if it was the male with the dark, cold blue eyes that had been pursuing them.

Blood dripped from the blond curls that slowly slid into the gap of the door as the insane female tried to enter and giggled madly that she was able to stare at them from her slightly gaped in position of the door. The oil lamp in the room began flickering as objects in the massive bedroom beginning to fly off their perches and slam into the adjacent walls. The crazed female smiled and giggled in a broken manner.

"More toys for ME!" The "me" was a shriek that had Akashi wincing and the rest of his team stepping back. "Me and my _friends._ "

"Take them, Freya!" Tori shouted, his position on holding the creatures beyond the door struggling as a black liquid began to ooze around the door crevices and Kasamatsu shook.

"No!" Kise shouted, beginning to run forward and help, Akashi next to him, when a hand gripped his wrist and pulled him back.

Both boys whirled to find gazes of frightened bright blue and bright pink.

"She's too powerful!" Riyo spoke, his voice slightly wavering in his fear and his eyes pleading. "You can't let them get you! You'll be stuck here, too!"

"Stuck?" Akashi asked but the sound of something slamming against the door shocked them all into silence as Tori held the door for all of his might and turned, shouting to them. The familiar shoves and heaves against the door behind him made him have to shout that much louder but with all the more intensity.

"SAVE THEM, NOW! There's no TIME!"

"Tori..." Momoi spoke softly and Akashi felt himself shaking his head. They couldn't expect them to _leave_ them like this?! There was no way the young male could hold that door long enough.

"No, we have to hel-" Kise started but Tori shook his head, cutting him off.

"No!" The door was rammed against once again and Akashi heard Riyo and Freya gasp as another hand began opening the door.

"Come!" Kuroko almost screamed, grabbing Akashi's hand and yanking him out of the bedroom, the rest of the team forced out behind them by the pink-haired power trailing after them.

Distantly, Akashi realized that the hallway they were retreating down toward was the one they had used into the very beginning and that they were entering it from an opposite hallway than they had entered. Had they just been running around the mansion in the darkness from the beginning in one large circle?

They raced down the stairs in a frantic pace, as if the hounds of hell were racing after them.

"We can't just leave them!" Kise almost screamed even as he ran and tried not to trip down the stairs at their frantic pace, but his gaze still trying to find Tori somewhere behind them.

"We can't save them!" Midorima shouted back. his voice breathless. Murasakibara nodded hastily beside him as he continued to shout. "There was nothing we could have done for them!"

"That's a lie!" Kise shouted at the same time that Aomine snarled "Like hell!". The other male was ready to run back and take down whatever had been trying to burst through that door and that had probably kiled Kouri, Lee and hopefully not Tori.

"We're leaving them to die!" Kise shouted and Akashi turned to shout at them even as the group finally reached the end of the stair case and charged to the double doors without thinking.

"Ryo-"

And burst back out into the chilled October evening.

"ta..." Akashi finished softly as they slowed themselves and dazedly processed the still slightly lit October sky and the line of teens waiting to get into the manor. Regaining his breath, Akashi shook his head softly, trying to get back his once collective mind.

If the still setting sun was any indication of time, they had been in the manor for,at most, about ten minutes.

Thought it had _felt_ so much longer. He apparently... _hadn't_ been ready for the unique attraction. Indeed, Kuroko's club had done very well in providing a haunted house that wasn't full of simple, scary ghosts or something to that effect; they had strewn together a story, given its characters life, and yanked them all into it.

"Genius," he sighed, his voice slightly reluctant to acknowledge it. "They made a story, gave it life, and yanked us into it." Kuroko's new group seemed more and more interesting by each second.

Midorima "hmphed", his attitude not willing to say how he had been sucked into the story as well. They all had been.

Hearing the rapid footsteps of the next group beginning there own rapid retreat down the staircase, Akashi began to walk down the stone slabs that the manor had used for steps. Until his gaze caught on a slab to his right. It was sitting up, next to the last step of the manor, looking important but unremarkable.

He bent to read it as the manor doors burst open behind them and the latest teens raced past them in a haze of fear.

Attached to the slab was a large weathered article printed on older paper. It appeared to be nailed in and contained pictures that drew Akashi's attention.

The large black and white pitcures on the slab distracted Akashi for a moment as he looked over the article, his team behind him. The picture showed six young teens, smiling at the camera, their eyes shining and full of life. Several names trailed at the bottom of the picture and Akashi read the names out loud, causing the teens in the enter line beside their group to listen.

"Riyo Yuki," He looked up at Kuroko respectively and at his small smile at the camera in the older aged picture.

"Mitsuna Kouri." His gaze went to the winking teen who sent a charismatic wave to the camera in his position by Kuroko, one elbow resting on the shorter teen's shoulder.

"Hitsugiya Lee." Akashi spoke and his gaze went to the smiling male next to Takao, his hair covering his right eye.

"Mu-chin," Murisakibara spoke to Akashi's left, now munching on a small bag of chips he had gotten from who-knows-where and Akashi nodded.

"Yuizaki Tori," Akashi read next and his gaze went to the tense male on the other side of Kuroko, his gaze dark but a slight smile on his face as he stared at the camera.

Kise smiled softly and Akashi continued, not really caring how many people were now in the line behind them and watching them, listening, or the small groups that continued to run past them every few minutes.

"Hiyono Freya," Akashi said finally, his gaze going to a smiling Momoi as she patted Kasamatsu's shoulder in the picture and gave the camera a happy, love filled smile.

Aomine huffed behind them and Akashi smiled, his gaze turning then to the other picture to the right of the one he had been observing. A small, beautiful female sat in a fluffy seat with a regal but kind posture, a soft smile gracing her lips as she looked at the camera. Her long, bouncy curls water-falled down her shoulders and her nice dress completed the package of what he would call a well refined lady. Too bad he had already seen her covered in blood and with the wild eyes of a blood-thirsty killer. A tall, gentleman stood behind her chair and Akashi could tell he was her butler from his apparel. In the black and white picture, his pale hair and cool eyes stood out and Akashi knew it was the same pair of eyes he had seen chasing them in the darkness.

Finished with the pictures, Akashi turned to the article in question and the story it held.

The article spoke of the missing cases of the five teens in the picture it hosted below the it. Below the short article of the disspearances and requests for the grieved parents, another story was written.

This story was of six young teen travelers who had come into the area. The innocent teens had searched for somewhere to stay for the night so that they could finish their travel and arrive at their destination tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, the teens chose to rest their weary bodies at a manor that belonged to a beautiful and seemingly very kind young mistress and her butler.

However, during the night, the teens had found that they could not sleep. As if something in the manor itself was keeping them from sleeping. They began to wander the old and eerie manor and soon found the dark, bloody secrets and truths hidden deep inside the structure. Even as the teens began to escape, the Mistress had them all hunted down by her butler and made a them another part of the bloody and terrifying secrets hidden inside the manor's stone walls. She forced them to stay in the mansion as she hid their bodies in the stone structure, entrapping them there with her for the rest of eternity.

Akashi slowly shook his head, the story shaking him slightly as he thought over the events in the mansion in front of their group. The five teens stared at the plaque in soft silence as more screams filled the air from the horror house. The screams from the house mingled with the screams from the rest of the Halloween themed school festival. Together, they filled the late October air with their madness.


	21. Cleaning Puns?

**_Thank you all for reading! Please enjoy and review! By the way! If you want an extra, let me know and i'll publish an excerpt of when Seiren went into the Haunted House as well, just for some fun, yeah? ^.^_**

 ** _Alright, here we go!_**

* * *

"It really worked!" Takao grinned as the Karaoke Live club began packing up the haunted house, some of the Faculty staff helping them. Takao laughed as he helped lift up filled boxes of equipment with Himuro. "Did you see their faces?! They were totally into it!"

"I've never seen Kise that scared," Kasamatsu spoke up from where he was helping Momoi up from her position of picking up the projectors hidden in the curtains in the middle of the hall.

"I was worried Aomine-kun was going to turn and punch Tetsumi-kun," Kuroko spoke from his position on the upper part of the ladder to the right of Kasamatsu as Kiyo held it steady and the pale blue male unhooked the fishing line that kept the light bulb above them in its position.

The normal lights were all on in the manor along with the help of the sun that shone through the windows. The attraction had lured in so many students that by the time the festival had ended they were still busy scaring the last of their guest groups.

It had left them all exhausted and Honey had ordered them to go straight home to clean up the attraction tomorrow.

"If any of them were scared of anything," Kiyo smiled as he took to bundle of wire and lightbulbs that Kuroko handed him carefully, handing them off to Shiro next to him as the taller male placed them all into a box with methodical care. "It would have to have been Ro-kun and Honey-san."

Kuroko remembered then that while Kiyo had been forced to work in the background with the projection equipment and such, he was still observing the guests and had probably seen more than any of them had as they had been forced to run around the manor, timing being crucial.

Kuroko had had to run into the parlor and calm himself enough to get ready to steadily speak to the newest group. After his run into the darkness, he would go through the connecting room in the shadows where Kiyo resided and help him quickly reset the parlor. The good thing was most of what appeared to be shattered items was simply the use of a very high end sound machine and some fish-lined objects.

Smoke and mirrors could do wonders.

After finishing the reparation in a quick flash, Kuroko would, once again, calm himself and wait for their next guests and disappear into the darkness. He would then hurry to the hidden room where Momoi and Kasamatsu had just started their own scene with the guests as he left his group to run into Takao and Himuro. The two would have been leaving the scene at the exact moment when he arrived behind Momoi and waited in the bedroom, both racing to meet up with the guests Kuroko had left behind and that were most likely being pursued by Tetsumi-kun. Tetsumi would then leave the scene as the teens ran into the room with Takao and reappear at climactic moments in the background, mainly behind Honey as she finally made her appearance.

Then, Kuroko and Momoi would play out their scene with Kasamatsu for their guests until Kuroko and Momoi led their guests in their frantic race for freedom and safety, leading them out the door at a fear-filled pace, the door slamming behind them. But only for a moment, as Momoi retreated and Kuroko sucked in a breath, the cycle beginning once again.

"I was surprised none of us fainted from exhaustion," Momoi spoke as she handed the rest of the projectors to one of the faculty staff next to her and paused to catch her breath. "It was exhausting running back and forth like that!"

"Very exhausting," Himuro agreed with her with a nod. "And I had to keep allowing myself to get run into by Takao."

"That was part of the script!" Takao whined and Kasamatsu snorted.

"So what about your slight 'improvising' that you asked about?"

"We could have made them think we were vampires! It wouldn't have been hard with our story already! But nooo, we had to be just ghosts." Takao spoke and Kuroko shook his head at his loud friend.

"That idea didn't need to be added, Takao-kun," Kuroko replied and Takao waited for his team as they all began to walk to the school with the final entourage of boxes they had to unpack. "I believe it was scary enough already."

"I agree with Kuroko," Riyo-san answered and Shiro nodded beside him.

Takao sighed. "I guess it was worth it to see those five run out of there," A pause and then a grin."At the speed of light."

"'Surrender now or prepare to fight'?" Momoi asked and Takao felt the sun shine on him as someone actually understood. Midorima would just look at him as if he were an idiot until he stopped.

"Why the reference?" Kasamatsu asked, his eyebrow arching and Takao sighed.

"If you say it out loud, it ruins the joke."

"Oh," Kasamatsu answered and Takao wanted to sigh again that his shining moment was gone and crumbled in the dust.

Until he heard Kasamatsu's under-his-breath grumble.

"At least senpai noticed you."


	22. Annie

**_Getting into the climax of the story! It's so exciting! Please review and let me know how i'm doing! I rely on it SOOOO much!_**

* * *

Kasamatsu didn't know what to say to Kise's invite to lunch. Err...invite wasn't really the word he would use at all, though. The second he had left the locker room, Kise had suddenly been there- right beside him. Before he could say anything at all, Kise was pulling him along with him in a rapid burst of a one-sided conversation of pleasantries that Kasamatsu did not trust to be real.

Then, they had somehow arrived at the park, himself perched on a bench and Kise standing before him with oddly intense gold eyes that sent some slight chills up Kasamatsu's spine. He felt as if he were being interrogated by his mother or an older brother of some sort and wanted to speak up about it, but the ferocity in Kise's silent eyes had him quietly thinking of some kind of alternative ways of running from the conversation with his normally charismatic and care-free friend.

"What's Karaoke Live, Senpai?"

Kasamatsu jumped slightly art Kise's straightforward question that left no room for any kind of evasion. That didn't mean he still couldn't try!

"Umm, a club?"

Kise seemed to almost roll his eyes and Kasamatsu wondered if he could risk the tiger-like intensity Kise now held to smack him after all.

"I _know_ that," Kise spoke, an odd smile coming on his face that Kasamatsu found just made the chills sink deeper into him. "But it's a club that you and Kurokochhi have joined." Kasamatsu didn't really know how to answer so he simply nodded and Kise seemed to sigh in patience; he, again, wanted to smack him.

"Why are you in a club that's not even in your own school?" Kise asked, his eyes growing darker and yet sharper. "And why are you in it with some of the kids from the other teams? Takao? Himuro? Even Momocchi is involved! "

Kasamatsu wasn't sure what he could tell his best..err….well…maybe?..best...friend... BUT he knew that the music secret was out of the question, so he tried to wait until his mind thought of a solution that would not be technically lying but not the full truth either.

"I've never even heard you sing!" Kise cried, apparently tired of waiting for Kasamatsu's slow answer. "And I've never even heard Kurokochhi sing either! Momochhi sometimes sings when she has her headphones in but that's beside the point! You-"

"I like singing." Kasamatsu spoke quickly before Kise could think about contradicting him. "I've just never liked singing out loud. Takao, Himuro, Momoi, and Kuroko and I all felt the same way and ended up doing some Karaoke while we were out one night together." Not a lie, just omission of some of the story. He had to be careful, though, just in case Kise decided to validate the story. "And then I went to see Kurasaki-san from the Karaoke club from Seiren because her club was going to be shut down soon, we joined soon after and now we're all in it together." Kise's dark gaze stayed on him for a long moment and Kasamatsu wondered if Kise didn't believe him- until Kise relaxed and began whining.

"But I can do karaoke, too! And I want to hear you and Kurokochhi sing! I want to hear it, too!"

Shaking his head, Kasamatsu sighed at Kise's continued whining and hoped that the rest of his group was doing well. Widening his eyes then, Kasamatsu looked at his phone and swore even as Kise looked up at him in confusion.

"I'm late!"

...

Kuroko was almost not surprised to see Kise enter the room behind a grumbling Kasamatsu, his gaze going to the back of the classroom where several others who were absolutely not club members sat. The entire Generation of Miracles assembled behind them now as Kise slid into a seat behind them.

"What are they doing here?!" Honey demanded and every member of her club flinched and looked at her helplessly before Akashi spoke up behind them, a small smile on his face.

"We are simply here to observe our friends, Honey-san," Akashi said in a voice a smooth as honey and Kuroko watched as a flush made its way across Honey's neck and over her face at his use of her first name. He also saw the conflicting expressions on her face between challenging Akashi and some instinct that knew she shouldn't. Those sharp eyes seemed to take in everything from the poster on the wall to the uniform violations of her outfit.

What a terrible battle, he thought as he watched and stood, drawing every eye toward him. "Shouldn't we stretch now, Kurasaki-senpai?" he asked and saw Honey's eyes widen- and then lighten as she found her way out of the standoff between her and Akashi.

"Yes! Get dressed and meet outside!" Kuroko smiled and nodded as Honey took Momoi and went into the other room to get dressed, retreating quickly but with her pride intact.

"Get dressed?" Kise asked even as he watched the men in front of him change, having been on a basketball team for so long, it didn't bother him for another male to change in front of him, but he did wonder why the guys were changing for a karaoke club. His eyes were, however, drawn to the huge poster on the wall that Akashi had been eyeing earlier, a calculating look in his hetero-chromal depths, for some reason.

Being the popular model he was, he, of course, knew of SAIYA- the world renowned but Japan-based pop idol group. It's three handsome males were clad in handsome black and crimson suits as they each gave the camera "come-closer" looks that he usually used himself. Seduction was a very powerful weapon in their world.

The center white-blond haired male led the group, the red fedora in his hand another weapon adding to the enchantment and "come-here" allure of his charming grin. The other two males, one of darker blue hair and one of midnight black, styled on his sides, similar positions of allure that would drive high school girls crazy at the first look, the sultry looks at the camera only added another layer. Kise realized, with a sudden thought, that he could really add some more allure to his own photographs, though not too much. There was a fine line-

"For stretching," Kuroko answered and Kise was suddenly snapped back into the moment even as a male he didn't know bounced his way over to Kuroko in obviously athletic grace.

"Ready, Kuroko?" The boy asked and Kise watched in surprise as Kuroko smiled warmly at the other boy as he finished dressing.

"Sure, Kiyo-kun," the teal-headed male answered as he finished pulling the shirt over his head.

As they all turned and began streaming out the room, the Generation of Miracles began to follow in slight confusion and curiosity. They had already gone this far.

"I wonder who's leading today in our warm-ups," Takao spoke as he stretched his arms above his head and yawned slightly.

"I don't know," Kiyo responded with a smile. "But it was cool how Ro-kun and Kasamatsu were chosen last time."

"Never going to forget that awesome day," Takao grinned and Himuro smiled as Kasamatsu elbowed Takao in the shoulder.

"Shut up," the older teen growled against Takao's snickers and Akashi filed away the important piece of observations between the apparently close friends that he had never noticed.

As the group of teens walked through the exit and onto the grass, the miracles paused and looked around in confusion at the students all looking down at them from on looking classrooms. Boys and girls alike were peering at the small club of teens beneath their classrooms, some leaning out of the windows to get the best look.

"What is this?" Kise asked, surprised himself even as some of the girls saw him and started squealing.

"They like to watch," Himuro smiled and Murasakibara looked at his teammate, confused.

"Watch what?"

Himuro was about to answer when a shout caused them to all turn to Honey, who was already dressed in her own workout clothes and glaring at them. "What are you all waiting for?! Get stretching!" Her order was somewhat followed by hoops and cheers from some of the students watching them from their classrooms and leaning out the windows and Kise saw a slight blush color her cheeks again. Himuro and the other began to group themselves into pairs automatically and it wasn't long before Kise noticed exactly why the others students were cheering them on.

Kuroko and the other club member that he had observed was named Kiyo were beginning to loop arms as a light wind blew through and both of them smiled against each other. It was freaking gorgeous and Kise almost ran up and hugged them both.

His gaze then snapped to Himuro and the other silent teen with him, who had been called Shiro before, both attractive men were stretching as well, but their stretches included Shiro pushing a sitting Himuro so the other male could stretch his back. The sun shined on both of them even as the breeze played their hair and Kise felt another pang of freaking captivation for this club.

His frantic gaze then went to Takao and Kasamatsu, almost desperate for something to cool the fire in him. Kasamatsu and Takao were standing next to each other, stretching their arms and practicing some kind of motion with their feet, Takao taking some apparent lead. Takao's surprisingly soft expression was turned toward a wonder-filled expression that Kasamatsu held, watching Takao and copying him, their feet moving in close synchronization. The freaking sunny and warm filter was over them as well as their expressions turned warm when they smiled at each other in a way he had never seen his senpai smile. He felt like he was totally out of the loop as he watched and hated the feeling, especially if his senpai was involved in something without him.

"That's not enough stretching, you two!" Honey snapped at the two males in his vision and Kise turned to find Honey and Momoi also doing back stretches similar to Himuro's and Shiro's. Both the females were so beautiful and fit that Kise saw Aomine's jaw drop at their display as they stretched.

Kise shook his head, realizing it was quite obvious why the club was such a must-see attraction to their fellow students who all watched with some dream-dazed gazes. He also knew, however, that their club leader must also already have known and that she was probably using it to gain publicity for her club. Honey Kurasaki seemed almost frighteningly intelligent.

A short blow of a whistle had the teens switching stretching exercises and now Kiyo was pushing Kuroko's back forward, letting the hurting teen stretch as far as he could before he complained. Takao surprisingly was lifting Kasamatsu easily, their arms linked as they both stretched. Himuro and Shiro were now both stretching as they stood, similar to what Takao and Kasamatsu had been doing before. Honey and Momoi had switched to the stretches that had their arms linked behind them, the same fashion as Takao and Kasamatsu. The switch happened for three rotations and Kise wondered if this was really a Karaoke Club. Again, why would they need to stretch for Karaoke? And why hadn't he been invited?!

As a final blow on the whistle had all of the teens sighing in relief and standing as they finished stretching, the students above them sighing in sadness. Every pair of observing eyes watched the club beneath them begin to stream back into the school, their focuses reluctantly returning to their activities.

"All right," Honey spoke as they walked and Kise tried to listen to her over the sound of their footsteps in the hallway. "Today, our leads in warm-ups are Takao and Himuro."

"Me?" Takao asked even as Himuro nodded beside him. Kasamatsu grinned snugly beside him as they continued walking, passing the shocked and frozen Takao.

"Looks like it's your time to shine."

Takao didn't reply to Kasamatsu's taunt, only sighed in exasperation and caught up to them, his shoulders slumped.

Kise was surprised again when, instead of returning to the classroom, Kuroko and his friends walked further down the hall and out of the building once more but, this time, onto what looked like a large field for some sports teams to practice before streaming into their respective fields. The others sports team barely gave them a glance as the club in front of them walked forward with practiced ease and turned toward a small building that seemed to suddenly appear before them. Its small size and hidden placement made it almost too easy to forget and walk passed unknowingly.

Following cautiously, the Miracles walked into the pitch black building-blinking sharply when lights above them were turned on without warning. Kise blinked up against the bright lights as a surprisingly large stage came into focus in front of them.

"If you would like," Kuroko spoke softly and politely as he turned to them. "You may take your seats and watch."

With a small bow, Kuroko turned to quickly join the rest of his club mates on the stage as Kise and the rest of the Generation of Miracles found seats close enough in the soft rows of chairs in front of the stage. Why was there even a small auditorium unused on Seiren campus? And how had Honey gotten use of it?

His question paused as he watched Honey pull out a huge, colored wheel that reminded him of the ones from the late night shows that his grandmother watched, like _Wheel of Fortune_ or something.

The observing teens on stage watched in some boredom as Honey took one of the pegs of the wheel and spun it with a powerful pull, its thrumming sound loud in the auditorium as every pair of eyes watched. Kise could only stare as the wheel spun and slowly started to stop, its pointed tab on the top slowly calming its rapid mantra. As it finally landed and stayed, Kise heard Honey's oddly cheery voice chirp.

"Annie, the musical." Midorima saw Takao's eyes widen slightly and the others around him have similar reactions.

"Annie?" Takao asked, titling his head. "Doesn't that mean I have to _be_ Annie?"

"Exactly," Honey smiled and Kise noticed the small remote in her hand as she clicked on one of the buttons on it. A strange sound above them had Kise looking up – and seeing a monitor slowly gliding down from some hidden place on top of the ceiling.

Again- _how_ did they get this place and _why_ wasn't he invited?

The good thing was that they were close enough to see what was on the screen above and slightly behind them. The screen was apparently connected to the small tablet in Honey's hands as the female scrolled on the tablet and through some kind of library until lyrics filled the screen and Kise heard Takao sigh.

"You know the game," Honey smiled at his displeasure, her eyes glinting in a way that had Kise remembering some kind of memory that sent chills up his spine. He wondered if he had ever seen the female before. "Didn't you say those exact words yesterday when Kasamatsu got _Frozen_ for his category?"

Kise couldn't help the snicker that slipped passed his lips as he imagined his senpai singing _Let It Go_ on the large stage in front of them _._ He was answered with a very dark look from the man himself and composed himself immediately even as he watched the rest of the group on the stage step back to the edge of the stage and sit, watching their usually goofy but now unsure, friend.

Takao didn't make any jokes now, he only turned to the screen slightly above him and took a very deep breath. Every person observing leaned forward slightly, even Akashi, their eyes on Takao as soft music started somewhere and filled the auditorium.

 _"The sun will come out…tomorrow,_

 _"Bet your bottom dollar that, tomorrow_

 _"There'll beee sun."_

Kise felt his jaw drop slightly in surprise at Takao's surprisingly soft and stunning voice. It seemed to fill the stadium as Takao began to walk slowly across the stage, playing out the song that slid musically from his lips, probably without even thinking about it.

He turned and saw Midorima seem just as stunned as he was.

 _"When I'm stuck with a day,_

 _"That's gray, and lonely,_

 _"I just stick out my chin, and grin,_

 _"And saaaayyy…ohhhhhh"_

A smile broke through Takao's features as he started a small dance with his feet.

 _"The sun will come out…tomorrow!_

 _"So you gotta hang on till, tomorrow,_

 _"Come what mayyyy…."_

The footwork grew a little faster and Kise couldn't stop watching.

 _"Tomorrow! Tomorrow!_

 _"I'll love ya, tomorrow!_

 _"You're always a day aawaay."_

As the music made into its crescendo, Kise watched a smiling Kuroko and the others file into the center of the stage behind and around Takao, whose eyes turned so bright they were electric and Kise, again, found himself speechless. The group on stage talked softly and smiled at each other but their eyes were on Takao as the music finished its crescendo, their eyes still on him as Kiyo suddenly jumped into position beside him.

The footwork that began as Takao's voice filled the air once more looked too incredible to be based simply on watching the leading male in front of them, but Kise could only watch and shake his head softly at the show in front of him. Was this really just their "warm-ups"?!

 _"When I'm stuck with a day,_

 _"That's gray, and lonely,_

 _"I just stick out my chin, and grin,_

 _"And SAAAAYYYY…OHHHH…."_

The entire group on stage opened their mouths now and the sound was a wave of music and majestic sound that almost had Kise standing and had Aomine choking as he sat up in his seat, staring with wide eyes. Midorima was still as frozen as a statue as he watched his teammate happily sing on stage with the rest of his club mates; Kise distantly wondered what the teen was thinking but then his gaze went back to the teens on the stage.

 _"The sun will come out, tomorrow!_

 _"So you gootta hang on tillll, tomorrow!_

 _"Come whaaat maaaaay!"_

 _"Tomorrow! Tomorrow!"_

The song that had started so depressing at its beginning was now filled with smiling faces and almost cheering voices that sang its words. Takao's eyes seemed to glow, all of his earlier reluctance vanished, as his club mates sang with him, the song nearing its climatic end as they let his voice lead in the final words and dance.

 _"Tooomorrow! TOMORROW!_

 _"I'll love ya, tomorrow!_

 _"You're always a daaaaayyyyy ,_

 _"AAAAAWAAAAAAYYYYYYY!"_

Midorima's already wide eyes only got wider as Takao's surprisingly intense voice ricocheted through the entire auditorium, his vibrant finale seeming to last for an immeasurable moment in time even as it drew to its end.

Kise wondered just what the hell Takao was doing simply playing basketball with a voice like that.


	23. Hard-Knock Life

**_Please review and let me know how the story is! This is kind of just a long chapter because I wanted Takao to get some loving. Tee hee ^.^ And this is the 2014, Annie, just a little note._**

* * *

"Alright! Good job!" Honey smiled, her hands resting proudly on her hips and Kise had to agree with her. The club was already amazing and this was just the warm up.

He watched the teens in stage breath for a moment and wondered what was going to happen next, he found he was excited to watch what proceeded.

"Are they performing another one for Takaocchi?" Kise asked, not really sure if any of his former teammates would be able to answer him as they watched Kuroko and the others get into the positions they had taken at the very beginning of the number before. "What about Himuro-kun?"

"I believe they both get two songs on their own and share one in between. We have not finished with Takao yet," Akashi answered and Kise tried to remember Honey ever telling any of them that information; how had Akashi known? He did wonder, but one look at the flashing eyes of his former Teiko captain and he just let it be another piece of the mystery that made their former captain the person he was. It was damn scary, but not something that he could explain anyway.

His attention turned back to the teens on stage as Honey took her position and placed the tablet down onto a nearby table, music beginning to filter in through the speakers; it was a song that Kise actually knew from the musical and was already expecting the immediate steps that the bouncy Kiyo started in his position as he led the choreography, simultaneous voices beginning a second later.

 _"It's the hard-knock life, for, us"_

 _"It's the hard-knock LIFE, for US!"_

Kise watched with growing interest as the group split into two groups and actually grabbed the stage cleaning equipment that had been laying nearby and began to pretend cleaning while crossing the phrases at each other and their groups, Kiyo and Himuro now both leading choreography, Himuro still watching Kiyo closely.

 _"Steada treated!"_

 _"We get TRICKED!"_

 _"Steada Kisses!"_

 _"We get KICKED!"_

 _"It's the hard-knock life!"_

He watched as the two groups began slowly shuffling into each other, their cleaning blending in an actually nice-looking way and Takao making himself prominent as he took center beside Himuro and Kiyo, his feet on the same timing as theirs, his hawk eye apparently giving him an easier time. The lead took his part in good character, as he performed and sang with the rest of his group.

Almost too busy focusing on Takao, Kise almost jumped to his feet when the large group suddenly divided once more and Kuroko stepped forward, the his voice almost too soothing and perfect for Kise to believe as he sang a small sentence on his own.

 _"Santa Clause we neeverr see."_

Kasamatsu and Takao seemed to answer automatically.

 _"Santa Clause? What's that? Who's he?"_

The group coalesced again and Kise saw the cleaning utensils fly between the groups as Kiyo and Kasamatsu passed to each other in front, the others copying as the groups began to separate once more; they all seemed to have forgotten they had an audience that watched them as they laughed and played around some before Honey corrected them with a grumbled threat for the them to get back on track or else. Kise could tell they were having fun.

Kise heard the door behind them open, but the group on stage seemed to be unaware as the two groups began crossing words and phrases once more, the choreography suddenly more complex as the two groups almost sang together but separate. Kise turned as he heard the footsteps, but the music on the stage had grown almost too festive to ignore.

 _"It's the hard-knock life, for, us."_

 _("Yank the whiskers off her chin.")_

 _"It's the hard-knock LIFE for US!"_

 _("Jab her with a safety pin!")_

 _"No one care for YOU a BIT"_

 _("Send her to the loony bin!")_

 _"When you're a FOS-ter kid!"_

 _"It's the hard-knock life!"_

 _("It's the hard-knock life!")_

Takao seemed to exhale loudly and almost collapse as the music finally finished and Kise wondered if it really was exhausting to sing songs back-to-back as well as dancing choreography with it- he imagined it probably would be.

"Alright," Honey spoke, her breath coming in slightly heavier than normal breaths. "The last song."

Takao nodded and Akashi watched the young male connect his gaze to Himuro and nod.

"This must be their shared song," Akashi spoke aloud and his company nodded, even the new male that now sat beside Aomine, both of them glaring at each other but keeping their attentions sporadically on the stage, making sure neither of them missed anything. Akashi shook his head softly at the two.

Akashi looked once again to the stage as he heard most of the teens leaving it to sit on the sides and edges, leaving Takao, Himuro, and Honey on the stage alone; the three were all turned toward the screen above them and Akashi heard soft music begin as Takao slipped farther backward and Honey stepped forward, Himuro beside her as he stepped forward as well. He smiled, what an odd combination.

He was momentarily surprised, however, at the soft voice that fell from the club leader's mouth as she began. While the female was usually always shouting and threatening her club members, her sound was surprisingly indulgent and calm when it drifted from her lips this way.

 _"Who am I? And what have I become?"_

 _"Do I stand for something? Or for money?"_

Kise felt his jaw drop slightly at the transformation of the female on stage- her eyes no longer sharp and bright, but now of cooled butterscotch as she looked forward, her hand at her chest as she looked ashamed. Her sweet and soft hair fell lightly over her eyes as she looked away, the song becoming even more powerful as she did so, showing the shame and repulsion at what she had done.

 _"You know I had a good heart once? You see…"_

As Himuro's equally soft voice began after her, Kise was slightly already expecting the prince-looking teen to have a the voice that would be calm and warm, sending a cool chill, a pleasant one, throughout the auditorium. Their new red-haired stranger couldn't seem to be able to take his eyes off of the prince on stage as he sang, his part being acted out almost as well as Honey's- the clear indecisiveness and pain paramount and touching deeply. Even Murisakibara had paused, a chip still half the way to his mouth in a frozen hold as the purple-haired male stared up at the stage and his partner on it.

Kise felt his heart squeezing slightly as he remembered the movie at this scene and felt the familiar anticipation of the need to save Annie from the strangers who had pretended to be her parents. He tuned himself back into Himuro, trying to reassure himself and listen to the voice that was actually better than he had predicted.

 _"I didn't know I'd need…anyone."_

He saw Honey and Himuro's eyes connect and could almost _feel_ the air rise as they began to combine their musical voices into a harmonic chorus of a crescendo that seemed to want to reach into all of them and plunge into their hearts as deep as it could.

 _"But I got today…I've gotta make…"_

 _"The best I can of it…"_

 _"Cause yesterdaaayyy is dead and goonee."_

 _"And me along with iiiiitt!"_

It was impossible for Kise to not be moved by the music that was slowly entrancing every person watching, its slow and painful message weaving into them, making the fact that the spectators had already seen what was occurring all the worse. Kise wondered how he was supposed to react, he was just too involved with the song now. It only got worse as the music began to crescendo once again and Honey and Himuro both glanced up searchingly, their eyes almost pleading.

 _"I wanna start agaaaaiiin!"_

 _"So I look withiiiin,"_

 _"Remember what I wanteeeeeed,"_

 _"Cause I don't knoooowww, who I've becooomeee,"_

 _"But I WILL TRUST in it!"_

 _("Yeah!") "I will TRUST IN IT!"_

Kise felt his heart ache only get worse as Takao stepped forward into the light once more, his eyes slightly shadowed and sad as he sang, the words from his lips as unsure as Annie had to have been as she was being driven away.

 _"Who am I, to spend my life alone?"_

 _"Forever looking for some place,"_

 _"To call home."_

 _"And who am I, about to meet myself?"_

An unsure look crossed Takao's face as he stared upward again, his eyes searching and pulling every observer in as he sang his next lines, the crucial lines.

 _"This should feel right, but something doooon't."_

Kise watched as all three of the teens on stage now glanced at each other and upward, and felt something warm flip in his stomach as Kuroko and the others watching began to sing a soft background chorus to the trio's powerful song that seem to hold such power that Kise almost felt like it was crashing into him and he could feel a real smile blossom as he turned and saw his usually prickly green-haired friend watching Takao with an opened mouth, his jaw dropped, probably unconsciously.

It almost seemed that every pair of eyes now watched the epic crescendo on stage with an expression close to Midorima's and Kise couldn't blame them, not with how he was reacting himself.

He turned back to the stage with a smile and hoped, for a moment, that the song would never end.

 _"BUT I WILLTRUST IN IT!"_

 _("I will trust in it.")_ Kuroko and the others sang in soft voices behind the main trio.

 _"I WILL TRUST IN IT!"_

 _("No, no, no.")_

Midorima seemed even more surprised as Takao sang louder, his voice pained but powerful in his role.

 _"WOOOAAAHHH!"_

 _"I will trust in it!"_

 _("No, no, no")("I will trust in it.")_

 _"I will trust in it!"_

 _"Wooaaah!"_ Takao.

 _"I will trust in it."_

 _("No, no, no")_

 _"I will trust in it."_

Kise heard the background voices calm and silence as the soft piano took over the music, Takao, Himuro and Honey now all looking at each other, their eyes sad but accepting as they sang softly, determinedly.

 _"But, today,…I gotta make.."_

 _"The best I can of it…"_

 _"Cause yesterday, is dead and gooonee…"_

 _"…..And me along with it…."_

Kise almost cried out loud when all three sighed their last words softly, sadly, as if their lives were leaving them.

 _"_ _I wanna start agaaaaiinn…."_

A pen could have been heard as the music ended and the theater went silent, no one able to speak for a moment.

But not for long.

"Your turn," Takao grinned at Himuro, his voice loud in the formerly silent gym, his wide grin contagious. It was Himuro who laughed slightly then at Honey's growl at Takao and the hitting stick in her hands, ready to cause damage.


	24. Climaxes?

Kasamatsu knew what Tino had told him- that there was nothing to be afraid of. But, as he watched the large screen above him, one of the most prominent and most watched screens in Tokyo, play a news station that was streaming some information about their new music video coming out in a few days and about all of the apprehension it was causing, he felt sick- he knew it was all happening too quickly. Too fast.

As much as he loved the thrill of watching his own performance on the screen and observing others watching with awed expressions-he could feel it all closing in around him and was reminded of something he had read in a book just yesterday at school that a philosopher had once written.

 _"There are three main points to the greatest of adventures; the epic beginning, the firestorm climax, and the heart dropping twist of an ending."_

The phone in his pocket shrilled to life and Kasamatsu had the jolting worry that their climax was about to start.

...

As soon as Kasamatsu arrived at the studio he knew something was wrong. Tino was shouting orders at his employees in an unusual plight of anger and Kuroko and the others looked lost, every eye wide with worry or straight with anger.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking around the studio in confusion.

"Kasamatsu, it's terrible!" Momoi cried, her pink eyes damp and yet filled with desperate anger.

He turned his worried gaze to Himuro, who spoke solemnly, anger brimming beneath the surface of his composure as he relayed the information.

"Someone broke into the studio last night and destroyed the studio set." He knew there was more and wasn't disappointed when Himuro continued after taking a most likely much needed breath of air, his eyes of dark fire. "Then they broke into the records room and the office upstairs and used some kind of magnet to erase the music video that's scheduled to be released in a few days. All of it, senpai."

Kasamatsu could only stare at his teammates for a second- too shocked to really even react as he thought of the hours that they had worked to master the choreography of the videos and how hard the crew had worked to provide all of the settings and the special effects that tied all of the video stories together.

All of it was gone?

"Why?" he asked, feeling himself slowly shaking his head. "Why would someone...do that?"

"I don't know," Himuro said, his voice still solemn as he shook his head and the dark fire in his eyes raged. Turning his head, Kasamatsu turned to find Takao with the same outraged fire in his gaze and to find Kuroko simply looking too lost and almost as hurt as Momoi, who continued to cry softly into his shoulder. All of it was almost too much for him to think about, himself, yet he had to do _something_ as he looked into the eyes watching him and staring up at him. Even as more questions swirled in his mind, he pushed himself into action and turned to observe Tino.

"Tino-san," he called out and saw his director pause in his administrations and briskly make his way toward him.

"What are we planning on doing now, Tino-san?" Kasamatsu asked, sure that the older man would know what to do and how to fix the situation- or at least where to start.

"The problem is that the choreographer, manager, and designer who we had hired for the performances are all being used right now for other productions and releases so there is no possibility that we can get them back in time to film all of the music videos and the extra fan service material we had ready for the deadline."

There was a frustrated and sad look to Tino's eyes and Kasamatsu wanted to beat up the idiots who ahd destroyed all of their hard work. They _would_ find out who did it. He made it a vow as he looked at all of the depressed crew and staff around them who ahd been so fundamental in making Rhythm the world-wide phenomenon it had become in such a short time.

"We can't just let this happen, though," Kasamatsu told Tino, hoping he knew what he was doing, but knowing the studio needed it.

"Damn right," Takao agreed over his shoulder and Kasamatsu was thankful the Shutoku shooter was still revving to fight. "We can't give up."

"What are you-" Tino started as his phone shrilled to life in his pocket, making everyone in the room jump as they had all been so intently focused on the issue. Tino pulled the phone out of his pocket and Kasamatsu could see from the man's expression that it was the dreaded call from the company chief, asking about the situation. Blue steel shifted in Tino's eyes as he looked from his shrilling phone to Kasamatsu's determined expression, biting his bottom lip slightly as he internaly weighted his options and shifted his gaze.

Something seemed to shift in those eyes as the blue eyes of steel turned into eyes of bright blue electricity and Tino flipped the phone open, his bright and electric eyes on Kasamatsu.

"I'll buy you what time I can. Get us a choreographer and a manager to work on remaking these videos immediately; we don't have any time to waste."


	25. Vega Lex?

_**Hi, guys! Thank you sooo much for reading this story and for all of the follow and favorites, so please enjoy and review this latest chapter of the climax!**_

* * *

Kasamatsu knew he must have looked insane as he paced in front of his new club members, all three watching in confusion as he silently paced. Kuroko and the rest of his own group were behind him instead of in front of him like the others- they all watched him too, as if not wanting to ruin his train of thought.

 _"I'll buy you what time I can. Get us a choreographer and a manager to work on remaking these videos immediately; we don't have any time to waste."_ It was those words that had brought him here, and the plea of his team.

He knew what he was going to ask was something that was going to crack their secrets wide open. However, he only had a twenty-four-hour window before the company gave up on restoring their music videos and maybe on Rhythm altogether. And now he was here- asking help from the only group that he knew may keep all of it from blowing up in his face but also had the talents that they were in desperate need for.

Taking a deep, hopeless breath, Kasamatsu turned toward the three club members of the Karaoke-Live club and bowed quickly, almost sporadically.

"Please help us. We need your help but there's a lot to explain so please let me." As he finally finished explaining, Kasamatsu tried to temporarily ignore the looks of incredulousness on Honey and Kiyo's expressions, as well as the risen eyebrows of Shiro, and asked again.

"So, will you please help us? Please?"

It took both Kiyo and Honey a moment to reply and recover from the sudden rush of information. The notion that both of them had actually been attending and kind of training the group that they had both loved since it had become a world-wide phenomenon was almost too much for either of them to take in. They looked at each other, unsure suddenly and then both glanced at Shiro, their eyes looking slightly upward into their companion's eyes.

Surprising Kasamatsu, the nearly white-haired giant turned his cool, Alaskan water gaze to him and the teens who stood, hopeful behind him. Those eyes looked over him slowly, sparking in an almost electric way- as the cool and calm Alaskan waters had suddenly been surfaced by a winter storm of a near frightening intensity and ferocity.

The stare sent almost too-familiar chills up Kasamatsu's spine and he wondered why, almost as if it were a passing memory that he couldn't identify as the near silver-haired giant looked him over. Something bloomed in the corner of his mind, something important, but Shiro's deep voice made his attention snap backward into their dire conversation, although he was still left thinking on it.

"Show us the studio."

He was happy to oblige.

….

Kiyo and Honey seemed nearly overwhelmed as they entered the studio with its productions and staff. Both stared around themselves with wide eyes, looking out of place in their high school uniforms, but excited to be where they were.

Kasamatsu felt bad for pushing, but the deadline was closing in on them almost too quickly for him to stay sane as he spoke and interrupted their explorations and observations that were nearly creeping out the poor intern they were "observing" with wide eyes.

"We only have twenty-four-hours before the company gives up on our music, but we've worked too hard to let any of it go, now. Please, help us. Join us?"

Shiro's careful eyes centered on Kiyo, who froze, then smiled and shrugged his shoulders with a soft grin.

"Too good not to."

Those cool, blue eyes turned toward the club president, who flushed slightly under all of the looks and snapped her gaze on a distant poster in the corner with a cat on it, her words coming out rushed but clear enough as she almost snapped them.

"I'm here aren't I?! Let's just hurry up and start!"

Almost too shocked to be ecstatic Kasamastsu swallowed past the lump that was building itself in his throat and choked out his words, his own skin flushing. "Thank you, guys. Thank you."

….

"Good job for finding replacements so quickly," Tino commented, his eyes on the cell phone in his hands, a still disgruntled expression on his expression. "But we still have another problem."

"What's that?" Takao asked, munching on the French fry he had picked up from his tray as they continued to listen to their manager over the usual business of the Maji Burger. Kiyo, Honey and Shiro sat with them, also chewing on their free food since their new manager had treated. All three were still lightly in shock but responding enough to pay attention to the conversation.

"The music." Tino answered, taking a sharp bite of the fry in his hand. "The music technicians that we had rented for the productions have been snapped up by Vega Lex. They were offered an undeniable deal last night, apparently, and have taken it."

"Who?" Honey asked, her eyes confused as she saw the hardened expressions of the others.

"They're a rival company to the one who invests in us," Kasamatsu answered with a sigh, his eyes seeming to darken. "If anyone, _they_ would have motive to destroy the production tapes." A sharp look entered Kasamatsu's eyes as he turned his gaze on Tino. "I'm going to take a guess that Vega is also the company that suddenly snapped up the choreographer, manager and the designer after us?"

Tino nodded gravely and Kasamatsu sighed again, rubbing his temples warily. "Of course."

"I've never heard of Vega Lex," Honey said aloud and shared a look with Kiyo, who answered her unspoken question in her gaze.

"They're a multi-million-dollar company that makes a lot of the music commercials lately for all of their sponsors- and they're all really good commercials, too. The ones that make you get up and fist pump to the music or do some crazy dance to it. That kind."

"Oh," Honey replied, the look in her eyes as if she were trying to recall the commercials, or the sight of Kiyo fist pumping and dancing spastically to the commercial in his living room by himself.

"Lately, there have been more Rhythm commercials on than theirs, though," Kiyo added with a soft look at his friends. "Rhythm is a lot more passionate, I think, and more open to the audience, plus mysterious. I would guess that you've made Vega Lex very angry at some point or another over the last few months."

"You're not wrong," Tino answered, his voice wry as he sipped his coke. "They've tried to buy them and their identities from us at least a hundred times."

"Really?" Honey and Kasamatsu asked, both of their expressions surprised.

"Yeah, but they've been denied repeatedly." He paused and glanced out the window toward the sunset that had always calmed him when he saw it, no matter where he was or how bad things had seemed. "I guess they took matters into their own hands this time. If the company can't make up the deficit for what had been spent on all of the music and choreography, then they their may be no choice but to sell Rhythm to Vega Lex, or give up on it. Yagami invested a lot of money on this deal and we have o for sure evidence that it was them who committed the crime; they have the best lawyers in Tokyo."

The table was silent as the news sunk in. Their hands had been tied and they were handicapped from the start. How would they get out of this one? It was one thing to be missing certain, replaceable parts of a whole. But if one took too many parts away, there was no way that it would stand. It would crumble.

It was over? Already? Kasamatsu wanted to scream, slam his fists down on the table- _something_ to let his frustration out.

"Ano," Kiyo suddenly spoke, shattering the melancholic silence as he stood, his eyes almost pleading as he looked around at the table around him and took a deep breath, preparing himself. "Have any of you tried acapella?"


	26. Too Much Pitch Perfect?

_**Hi, guys! Thank you sooo much for reading this story and for all of the follow and favorites, so please enjoy and review! Please and thank you! :D**_

* * *

 _"Ano," Kiyo suddenly spoke, shattering the melancholic silence as he stood, his eyes almost pleading as he looked around at the table around him and took a deep breath, preparing himself. "Have any of you tried acapella?"_

"And this is how we're staring it?" Takao asked in confusion as Honey fiddled with the tablet in her hands.

"It's easier to start with something familiar," she answered him and Takao noticed she was smiling as she spoke- a real, wide smile that made the honey-gold of her skin glow. It was a surprise to see and he wondered if this was something that she had dreamed of doing for a long time- her whole life maybe? Was it her dream?

"Is something wrong with my face?" Not wanting to step on any land mines with the beautiful woman across from him, Takao simply smiled at her his secret dimpled smile that he had Himuro teach him to use as a weapon in case of emergencies.

"Not a single thing."

The odd balance of the smile and the words, and maybe the good mood she was in already, helped to ultimately get him a simple shake of the head from the usually fiery vixen across from him.

"Go sit down, you idiot, the movies are about to start."

"Yes, ma'am," Takao saluted and gave her a wink before trotting off of their Karaoke Live stage and taking a seat in the rows beside Kasamatsu, who was tapping his finger on his knee impatiently. The rest of the teens sat in the same row as him and he knew that, if he turned, he would see Tino and the staff from the studio sitting some rows behind them- all of them too nervous to not watch the experiment and its results.

"What movies are we watching again?" Takao asked Kiyo, who sat on his other side.

"We're looking at both of the Pitch Perfects to show you guys a closer view on acapella- which I'm surprised none of your really know anything about at all." The older teen still sounded as shocked as he had just last night when they had all answered a negative to his question of any of them trying acapella. But it wasn't like people were born singing a note as they came out for the first time. That would help a lot of surprised mothers if, before their water broke, their babies sang _"I'm coming out,"_ right before the pain- but that stuff didn't happen.

"After that, we're looking at some videos on YouTube for Pentatonix and other acapella groups, just to get some more reference." Kiyo continued, as if knowing he had lost Takao somewhere in his pout and the male in question nodded as the auditorium lights switched off and the large screen came to life with a menu and a cast of girls who he suddenly knew would probably make the movie very interesting.

He wasn't disappointed and worried, for a while, that he would laugh so hard that he wouldn't even have a voice left for singing, or breath left for even dancing the Polka. The movie was fantastic! If the first one left his side hurting, the second one had him almost going to the hospital with how painful it got as he laughed and laughed.

He heard the others enjoying it as well and found a heavy burden coming off of his shoulders- at least for a moment. He was also suddenly really excited to try out the acapella that Kiyo and his group seemed to love more than anything as he noticed Shiro's actual laugh echoing with everyone else's in the auditorium. The entire experience seemed like a dream as he continued to watch the best movie he had seen in a while as Kiyo whispered to him excitedly about who was in the competition and about things he probably would have realized just by watching, but he just listened happily and watched as the dream carried on and he let himself forget reality.

…

Riko blinked in surprise, the toothbrush in her hands falling to the sink below it with a tinkering sound. She almost couldn't believe what she was seeing on the tiny screen shaking in her trembling hands. Her scream ricocheted throughout the house, frightening her father into flinging himself out of his warm covers and grabbing a nearby bat, as if some kind of terrible beast had jumped in the bed with him and thrown him out of it. He charged up the stairs maniacally, intent on rescuing his little girl.

…..

Koganei choked on his rice as he held his phone in front of his face. His hiccupping coughs were so bad that his older sister had to thwak him on his back to save his breath, but it was worth it even as he grabbed his bag and shouted bye to his confused family before running out the door excitedly, chopsticks still in his hands. A huge smile brightened his face as he ran, the phone clenched in his fingers.


	27. Watching Me?

_**Hi, guys!** Thank **you**_ **s** **ooo** _ **much for reading this story and I'm sooooooo sorry for the wait! I've been ridiculously busy lately, but I'm still alive! Yay!**_

* * *

It wasn't that Takao was a bashful person- not really at all!- but he knew his face was burning as he stared at the large screen on the building in front of him and his team. They had come closer to inner Tokyo to attend a practice camp that they would be sharing with some other teams. They had paused to grab something to eat after they had arrived and as they had made their way from the local Maji Burger, he had almost spat out his drink as he heard and recognized the sound of music in the air.

He found himself, along with all of his team, turning to face toward the giant screen hanging on the building across from them.

"Hey," he heard Miyagi say from beside him and Midorima huff somewhat but didn't turn, still focused on the screen as he watched. "Isn't that one of Rhythm's videos?"

"It is," one of the other players answered and Takao almost jumped when he watched himself flash onto the screen, the animations cooler than before. He knew the exciting entrances and transitions were simply because they and the production staff had been lost for time, but it really did look cool in its dark orange and red waves and abstract entraces and exits.

Meghan Trainor's _"Tumble"_ was an excellent choice for their a capella song and he couldn't help the sigh of relief as he watched the screen smoothly transition from himself to Momoi as they took turns singing and taking background parts, working with Kasamatsu and the others with the bass and beat.

It had been a lot harder than he'd thought, putting it all together from scratch, they'd even had to pull in vocal assistance from Honey, Kiyo and Tetsumi, meaning each had to work extra hard with their already filled plates- and meaning more work for them as well. He couldnt even count how many times he'd had to arrive home late because of Honey's dress rehersals or Kiyo's dance rehearsals- or even Tetsumi's planning meetings for ideas on their videos and perfomances. The explanations of simply "practices" were starting to make his mother suspicious.

Frankly, he was exhausted and wondered how the heck he was going to do this training camp and survive.

And yet, as he watched the screen and noticed how his team had started slightly bobbing their heads or moving their boddies to the music- even Shin-chan who stood beside him and probably did it unconsously- he felt happy, joyous. He turned back to the screen just as the sceen popped forward of them all leaping off of some kind of cliff, seemingly bound for the bright sunset just beyond it.

The way that they had all had to forego their regular sunglasses had made them all rather uncomfortable, but Tino and Honey had promised to work even harder to ensure that their identities stayed secret. From what he could see as the graphics on the screen shifted again and each of them got a personal shot closer to their faces, they had done what they had promised- enough that it actually impressed him. Not only had their hair been changed to contrast their actual appearances, but also the shots never got too close or revealing. More of the magic being worked, he guessed and had to smile. Hopefully the other videos looked just as awesome, or maybe better.

"Alright, let's go." Takao nodded at Miyagi as the video came to a close on the large screen above them and they started walking -until he froze, the sudden and intense feeling of being watched making every hair rise on his neck.

He immediately began to scan the area, his eyes intensely attentive, and turned to where he had felt it. His eyes settled on the alleyway that he noticed across the busy crossway- along with the rather petite figure that seemed to be peeking out at him from beyond the wall, which seemed to cover most of their frame.

Odd...

Maybe she was a fan of his team?

He started to walk forward.

"Takao. "

He turned to Midorima's call instinctively. The green haired shooter stood in front of the rest of the team that now all watched him in confusion- though it seemed more in irritation in Midorima's case.

"What are you doing?"

"I- " he started, turning to look at where their hidden observer perched - and found an empty alley opening. Sure that the person was probably still there, he started forward again, but Midorima grabbed his arm and looked at him.

" _What_ are you _doing_?! The light's red!"

Looking up at the light surprised at how focused he'd been and also how _unfocused_ he was, he shook his head slowly, suddenly feeling silly for singling in on someone that could have been simply been stating at him for a moment just because.

So instead, he turned to Midorima and forced his eyes wide. He made his voice into an exaggerated choke when he spoke.

"So you _do_ care."

He had the luxury of seeing those green eyes snap dangerously as the taller male seemed to contemplate hitting him or just pushing him headlong into the traffic beside them.

"Oh well!" Takao added quickly, slipping out teen's hold quickly before he wound up in trouble. He quickly jumped forward to stand next to Miyagi and grinned as his senpai shook his head, smiling at his kouhai 's antics. "Shall we go?"


	28. Dissapearences!

_**Hi, guys!** Thank **you**_ **s** **ooo** _ **much for reading this story and I'm sooooooo sorry for the wait! I've been ridiculously busy lately, but I'm still alive! Yay!**_

* * *

Midorima wasn't sure how he found them. Or why he had started looking for Takao in the first place. One second his teammate had been beside him, walking forward as they traversed the hallway, playing on his cell phone though Midorima had wondered who he had been texting since it was late after their practice; they had just about made it to their cabin when he had turned to say something to the shorter male- to find nothing but an empty spot beside him.

"Oi!" he almost shouted, looking around even as other players turned toward him in confusion, the various high school presences making him self-conscious even as he looked around again in surprise.

He could have waited for the idiot in the room, that would have been the smarter thing to do, but instead he found himself wandering the outside halls of the now slowly quieting system of gyms that made their seasonal practices possible.

He apparently wasn't looking particularly where he was going, his mind on how he was going to choke his teammate when he found him, when he bumped into a dark figure, who crashed to the ground in front of him.

"Ow!"

Midorima sighed at the whine even as he turned on the flashlight of his phone and illuminated the still grounded Kise, as well as the annoyed looking Aomine behind him as the darker skinned male sneered at the blond.

"Watch where you're going, baka."

"You're so mean, Aominecchi!" The bond whined and Midorima sighed in exasperation even as he slid his glasses higher up on the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"What are you both doing?" he demanded even as the sniffling blond regained his footing and turned to look at him with the taller male beside him. "It's time for lights out."

"I could ask you the same the question," Aomine asked, obviously unaffected by the green-haired male's attitude. "It's not like you to break rules." He then paused and looked around, as if he was remembering something and wasn't finding it.

"Where's your shadow?"

At the mention of Takao, Midorima was able to remember why he was even on this mission in the first case.

"That is none of your concern," he answered Aomine, purposefully avoiding the question as he began to dismiss the two and walk pass.

"It is if he's where Satsuki and Kise's sempai are."

Aomine's words stopped the tall teen in his tracks. He turned then, just a fraction, to find two gazes now fiercely focused- gazes of fierce animals- and knew he was going to have to get involved now.


	29. Connections?

**_A little part two to make up for my absence, :) ;)_**

* * *

 _Aomine's words stopped the tall teen in his tracks. He turned then, just a fraction, to find two gazes now fiercely focused- gazes of fierce animals- and knew he was going to have to get involved now._

Hours.

They had circled the gyms for what Midorima swore had to be the twentieth time as they had searched for their teammates. Even as he sighed in exasperation again at their situation, Kise's words infiltrated his ears, the now silent halls making his voice echo. Hopefully they would be able to shut him up if another coach made the rounds.

"...and then Kasamatsu-senpai said that he was suddenly tired and that he was going to go to bed early- you know. So I didn't even bother him when I tiptoed into the room, but then I couldn't find my toothbrush- you know, my lucky blue and silver one I keep for games?- so I tried to ask him if he knew where it was! And there were only PILLOWS!"

Maybe they _would_ have to just duck-tape the blond's mouth shut to keep him from getting them caught, Midorima thought, though the story did interest him enough.

"I don't really know what happened with Satsuki," Aomine spoke even as he swung his light around the latest gym they had walked into, looking as bored as ever. "She got her own cabin so I wasn't really thinking of anything, but when I was on my way back from a late bath, I could have sworn I saw her rushing through the hallway, as if she was in a hurry. I tried her cabin later after the coach told me she had gone to bed early and found it empty."

Both boys then turned to Midorima who simply pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose before speaking, entering the outside courtyard from their latest gym exploration.

"I was walking with Takao from when we had stayed late to practice and when I turned to speak to him, he had dissapeared." He paused in thought then continued. "Considering on how he was doing something on his phone before he dissapeared, I'm guessing someone messaged him or something.

The other two boys immediately looked deep in thought for a moment as they paused in the middle of the darkened and empty courtyard, the space barely lit by a light posted on the upper corner of the gym they had just vacated as it flickered periodically.

"It's true," Kise spoke softly, his eyes hard in concentration. "Kasamatsu was also on his phone more than usual before he claimed he was too tired and left."

"And I think Satsuki had her phone in front her when she was sprinting away from the gym." Aomine added.

"So they're connected," A voice spoke from the darkness, making all three of them freeze. "Is that what you're saying?"


	30. Miscommunication?

_**Hiiiyaaa! Wrote this all from my phone so there may**_ _ **be some mistakes, sorry; ). But I just thought this story could use some fluff and funny time...so...lol sorry,**_

 ** _Review please! I love you, bye!_**

* * *

"Hey, Akashicchi ", Kise spoke into the silence and darkness that was only broken by the sound of their footsteps snapping twigs and crunched grass as they walked, and the beams of the flashlights Aomine and Murasakibara carried. The woods at night seemed scarier under a full moon for some reason, but their leader was _sure_ that he had glimpsed Kasamatsu slipping into the trees in the direction they were headed.

"Yes, Ryouta?" The red-head asked, not sounding very interested as he continued to lead the team of five as of they were on some kind of field trip and not out without permission, hunting down other students.

"The next time we have a camp together, could you let us know next time, please?" The blonde 's heart was still slightly thumping from adrenaline as he remembered hearing the dark voice in the barely lit courtyard and looking up to see blood red and flaming violet eyes peering at the from the pitch darkness across the courtyard.

He was honestly surprised no one has awoken with how loud his scream had gotten.

"Idiot." The green haired male hiking beside him gruffed softly as he passed him and Kise pouted.

"I can swear that you jumped three feet high when you saw them, too, Midorimachhi. "

"I think it was higher than that." Aomine grinned, turning the beam of his light toward the green haired teen, illuminating a look so dark that both teens were shut into silence, though Akashi 's sigh was audible.

Along with another sound.

"Ng... "

The miracles froze, waiting, until a similar sound followed.

"Wait...that hurts..."

"Takaochhi?" Kise whispered softly, his eyebrows rising even as Akashi shuffled softly through the leaves, closing in on through sound as the other miracles followed, keeping silent.

"Stop...I can't...No more! "

"T-takaochhi? "

"Shh, " Akashi put a finger to his lips as the sound grew louder and was accompanied by another voice that was so soft it was almost inaudible from their position, but growing as they slipped closer and could make out some sort of field.

"You must relax, Takao-kun. "

Aomine dropped his light even Akashi froze at Kuroko's soft words, sounding slightly breathless.

Reaching back Akashi quickly grabbed the light that the frozen blue haired male had dropped and switched it off, he did the same to the one that Murasakibara was holding. The light of the full moon bloomed even as he waited for his eyes to adjust.

"Wha -! Kuro - I-i CAN'T! Please, stop! You can't go any further!" Takao 's hoarse voice cried out and Midorima was also frozen in stepped slightly forward, following the sound once more toward the field, but trying to remain hidden until he could actually assess the situation.

"Akashi -" Kise started, his face slightly flushing as he followed carefully, but another cry from Takao cut off his voice, causing him to swallow as he imagined what his Kurokochhi could actually _doing_ to Takaochhi. "A-aka -."

"You can go further than this , Takao -kun. I wouldn't be going this far if I didn't think you could handle it. " Kuroko's soft voice sounded louder as they continued to get closer though what they would actually find had each of them... conflicted...?...maybe? Or...

"So is Tetsu going to like...eat him?" Aomine asked, his voice sounding hoarse as they got closer and closer. A shadow eating a fellow shadow... "Isn't that cannibalism? "

The glare that Midorima gave him could scare paint off a wall and he growled, "Well...".

"I don't believe this," Midorima whispered, his fingers lightly shaking as they were finally close enough that they could almost glimpse what was happening on the field, and could hear all of it. The very thought of what Kuroko was doing to his shadow was...IMPOSSIBLE!

He listened closely.

"Kuroko... " Takao whined.

"Why are you so tight?" Kuroko 's soft voice spoke. "Haven't you been training all day? Did Midorima -kun not loosen you up as he does before every practice? "

Four shocked gazes spun toward the green haired teen who was flushing so hard he could barely get his words out without yelling them.

"Th-that's not true!" He was finally able to almost scream in a whisper.

"Yeah," another voice joined and Kise almost jumped at the voice of his senpai. "I've seen it when we were at the Interhigh, Midorima always takes care of him."

Midorima's face became fire even as Aomine's mouth hung open and Kise looked horrified.

"No! It's a lie!" He scream whispered again even as Kise's senpai continued.

"When Kise and I do it, he's already excited for the match so, although I start it, he usually kind of throws me down and takes over."

Four gazes now marveled at Kise, Aomine's mouth moving to form the air words "Holy Shi- "

"NOOO! " Kise almost screamed and shook his head fervently , Akashi and Aomine jumping up to silence him.

The voices paused on the other side of the shrubbery and the entire forest seemed silent for a moment...

"What about you Himuro? Takao's strained voice asked and a soft, prince-like laugh echoed, causing Murasakibara to actually look up, though his expression still looked slightly bored.

"Can't, he's too big. If we're ever able to, he has to be the one making the moves or I'm in deep trouble."

Silence...complete silence from the four who stared at the giant and... what?...

Silence...

"I'm guessing Aomine -kun is the same, Momoi -san? " Kuroko asked and VERY startled eyes snapped to the blue haired male. Some held fire in their gazes.

"Sometimes," Momoi's soft voice spoke and Aomine started to slowly stand at her next words. "HE won't do any of it with any of the team really so sometimes I just help him do it when he's relaxing on the roof."

Blue eyes blazed as four young males mouthed "ON THE ROOF?!".

"That's not true!"Aomine shouted, his face actually flushing...until he looked up to find a very tall, silent teen now staring down at them from an opening in the field.

"Who is it, Tetsumi -San?" Kuroko asked softly and Midorima flushed slightly as he remembered what Kuroko was supposed to be doing to his shadow. Stepping forward, he turned to finally see it all...

And found Kuroko and Takao - and everyone else- fully clothed, and just finishing their stretching.

"Huh?" Kise asked, looking around himself, his face slowly cooling as the events he had imagined slowly dissapeared from his mind and he actually THOUGHT about their conversations.

"You were speaking of stretching... before games?" Akashi asked, his eyes on Takao's expression of relief and Kuroko began to stand, finished stretching him.

"Yeah?" Kasamatsu asked, his arched eyebrow an obvious question. _What did you **think** we were talking about?_

The other, karaoke live club member male, Kiyo maybe, seemed to be looking between the miracles and the others, his expression just as confused...before it slowly cleared and a slow smile curled his lips.

Akashi sent the boy a warning look, fighting the heat that wanted to rise into his face, and the other teen just chuckled at him...and patted him on the head, before moving to return to the blue eyed giant. The giant's eyes flickered to him, a dangerous light showing, until flickering back to the smaller boy now at his side, the blue depths seeming to calm as - Kiyo?- spoke to him.

"What were you all doing out here, anyway?" Kise asked, making Akashi 's attention shift back to his team. "And how did you guys find the camp?" The blond then asked the giant and Kiyo.

Before the two, or any of them, could reply a loud voice shrieked into the field, shattering the unknowingly quieted atmosphere that had settled around them.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING?! "


	31. Shhh?

**_I'm so sorry about the wait! I'm graduating soon and my work just seems to keep piling up!_**

 ** _Oh, by the way, good catch Sweet Lover! Yes! There is a secret reason why I have Kise calling Takao with "cchi" ;)_**

 ** _So, on we go!_**

* * *

 _Kise asked, making Akashi 's attention shift back to his team. "And how did you guys find the camp?" The blond then asked the giant and Kiyo._

 _Before the two, or any of them, could reply a loud voice shrieked into the field, shattering the unknowingly quieted atmosphere that had settled around them._

 _"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING?! "_

* * *

Riko couldn't help but grin as she hugged her fluffy pillow to her chest and snuggled into her covers in the guest cabin. She knew it was late, and that she should probably be sleeping with how much catch-up in training they had to pull tomorrow in order to be ready for the Winter Cup that was so close. Yet still, she pulled the covers up and plugged her headphones in to her phone, her fingers almost shaking as they hung over the play button.

She pressed play.

Then she heard the screams outside.

...

"That wasn't very nice, Hon-chan," Takao sighed, looking around at their position a bit farther into the clearing. They had quickly moved (run) further in just in case Honey's (way-too-loud-for-bedtime-hour) shout and the answering surprised squeals from some certain (unnamed) basketball players had alerted the teachers and had started some of them on looking.

"For real," Aomine growled and the beautiful blond sent him a glare that could scare entire pages of letters into nonexistence.

"Karaoke."

At the abrupt and deep voiced word, every gaze turned to the silver haired giant who stood beside Kiyo, who also looked up at the male and into his glacier blue eyes. A second of eye-contact and Kiyo suddenly smiled, as if picking up on something from his silent companion. He then turned suddenly to Kise.

"You asked what we were doing here, didn't you?"

The blond model paused, a confused look crossing his face- before blinking in surprised remembrance. "Hai..."

"With no large wheel or lowering screen?" Akashi asked, one brown arching and causing Honey to glare even as Himuro stepped forward with a smile.

"We agreed to do a Capella for this practice."

"Hm?" the purple giant beside the smiling point guard asked just as Aomine turned to Momoi as asked "Aca-what?"

"A Capella." Momoi answered and easily simplified it for the sport lovers looking at her in confusion. "It means no instruments or background music." Out of the corner of her eye, Momoi noticed Kise's gaze suddenly widen, narrow, and snap to somewhere passed her. She risked a glance in curiosity as Akashi began to speak to the others about something and found herself locking eyes with Takao's silver gaze. And saw how smug it looked. When she turned back, Kise's gaze had turned toward his leader and had lost its sudden intensity.

Takao was now apparently speaking to Midorima, his eyes now normal as well.

Hmmm...


	32. A CHALLENGE?

_**I love how observant everyone is about the story! Kyaa! Thank you so much, you all make me so happy!**_

 ** _Please review and tell me how its coming along!_**

* * *

"Why do we have to do this?" a growling Aomine moaned as the pink haired female behind him helped him stretch farther, smiling happily and _maybe_ wickedly as she did.

"You're the ones who wanted to be involved in the club," the light haired kid (umm, "senpai", right?) asked with a huffed laugh as he stretched with an actually _very_ excited Kise.

"That did not include everyone." the green haired and very upset miracle scowled even as he stretched by his shadow, who grinned beside him.

All eyes then turned to Akashi, who stood by the blonde coach who seemed to watch them, nearly just as unhappily. The oddness of her not forcing the younger red-head standing beside her to stretch as well was not questioned and was very carefully avoided.

"Are you all done yet?" she asked instead and every head nodded, some obviously reluctant and one ultra-excited.

"All right," Honey sighed in response, tapping her index finger against her chin for a moment, almost as if she was thinking of something complex. "Since there are more people than I _expected_ (a pointed look) we'll have to change up the routine a bit, okay?"

The club members nodded, some casting worried looks for a moment then vanishing them the next.

"I have an idea," Takao announced, stepping forward then and all eyes turned toward him. A characteristic grin slid across the young male's face as he spoke, his eyes almost glowing in the pale moon light. "Since the others may be knew to a Capella, why don't we do something first that they might be familiar with?"

A surprised look came over the blond's expression at the actually sound idea while another, maybe more suspicious one, decorated Kasamatsu's.

"That sounds like a good idea." Kiyo said from beside Kuroko. "We can also help teach them how it works."

Honey was particularly close to snapping that if they didn't know how it worked then they shouldn't have freaking barged in on their practice when Takao spoke up and surprised them both- again.

"Actually, we may not need that yet." The hawk-eyed teen spoke out as he stepped forward, and turned toward the male blond standing by his senpai. "That's _if_ you're still up to the challenge."


	33. Underestimation?

_**I love how observant everyone is about the story! Kyaa! Thank you so much, you all make me so happy!**_

 ** _Please review and tell me how its coming along!_**

* * *

 _"Actually, we may not need that yet." The hawk-eyed teen spoke out as he stepped forward, and turned toward the male blond standing by his senpai. "That's if you're still up to the challenge."_

* * *

"What challenge?!" Kasamatsu demanded even as his kouhai seemed to lunge forward, a deadly look in his usually soft golden eyes.

"Challenge accepted."

Now, more than one basketball player was watching them in worried confusion. The Karaoke Live cub was also watching, but with more confusion as they had no idea the power difference that came from challenging a Miracle.

"Takao!" Midorima snapped, reaching out to grab at his shadow as a dreading feeling swirled in his gut. "Knock it-"

"It's alright, Shin-chan."

Midorima froze at that tone, his eyes widening some as they first settled on Takao's smile...then onto his eyes as the male continued speaking.

"Just think of it as a karaoke competition." A hard glint in those silver eyes that reflected the pale screen of the moon and other unrestrained forces of the night. "After all." The silver burned. "He's the one who challenged _me_." Another smile that did nothing to lessen those predator-intense eyes.

There were some who heard the hawk-eyed male's words and took them for their word value, as scary as they were. However, there were a certain _some_ who heard the words, and heard something slightly and yet importantly different.

 _You challenged an **idol** , Miracle. Now, I'll make you see what you're up against. What we've worked so hard to achieve._

Kasamatsu wanted to argue- wanted to step forward and stop the two…but he also found he felt conflicted. The admission made him feel slightly guilty, but he completely understood Takao's anger and had understood what had probably happened as soon as Takao had finished speaking; Kise had probably (most likely) encountered Takao somewhere in the camp sometime earlier and had run his mouth, probably harking about how he was also good at basketball and could probably easily excel at their karaoke sessions.

The idiot probably only thought that he was saying something enthusiastically obvious pertaining to simple karaoke for an after school club. Nothing harmless, really, but a chance to talk about his strengths and ideas. However, the idiot's ideas of instantly becoming talented were something that must have gotten slightly under Takao's skin.

Then, the idiot probably even laughed and said that he could prove that he belonged in their group, challenging the hawk-eyed player, still not completely understanding how serious it all was. Not that he could have, really.

 _That_ would explain the sudden text message that he got, along with everyone else from Honey and the others who, at first, had had no idea where there camp was. If Takao had purposefully let it slip, she would have immediately rounded them up- as she had _done_!

But still, he couldn't blame Takao, even if he also knew that Kise's challenge was probably caused by the unknowing confidence of one of the Generation of Miracles. It was important to carry confidence when the results were obvious, but Kasamatsu didn't think Kise really knew whom he was picking a fight with. It wasn't every day that a secret idol got challenged to a karake contest.


	34. Rules?

**_A little extra because I wondered if the other one was too short. Don't worry, you'll still get the actual chapter because I'm updating every week and this doesn't really count, lol. I just thought I would post a mini-one to make up for my other, mini-one. Sorry! But...I hope you like this one, too!_**

 ** _Review please! Otherwise I won't know if I should keep going and I reaaaallly like this story so please! Review!_**

* * *

"All right," Honey stepped forward, taking control over the situation. Though she didn't think she understood the full gist of the situation, she had a feeling that it was more important than she was being told. "Here is how we're going to do it. There will be two songs, a Capella arrangements, of course."

Her eyes strayed to the blond model who she knew was named Kise. "Since you are still new, we're not going to directly force you into composing your own work. The songs will be popular songs, just in case, okay?" After Kise nodded she turned back to the others watching her and continued.

"For now, the songs that came from the shuffle are 'Closer' by the Chainsmokers and 'Shut Up and Dance' by Walk the Moon." An excited light entered the eyes of sharp gold as a glinting one entered the ones of smoldering silver. She didn't waste time.

"The rules will be precise but should be simple enough to follow; follow along with the choreography done by Kiyo," a nod to the darker haired senpai with the graceful tread that Aomine had noticed earlier. She turned back. "He will be placed in front of you, of course the rest of the group minus the extras will follow along- they are ordered only to provide a Capella assistance and follow along with the choreography. In the first song, Takao will take part of the lighter voice-"

"The girl?" Aomine asked, arching brow- and dropping it immediately as three powerful gleaming glances, two of gold and one of silver, blazed at him and told him to "shut up. Now."

"The lighter voice." The female president continued as if the now frozen male had never spoken in the first place and as if all was right in the world. "Kise will take the deeper. As for the next, Takao will start and you will transition back and forth until the end of the song. Though improvisations are always needed, those are the cemented rules."

"I got you," Kise's excited voice confirmed, his eyes on Takao as if wanting to pounce on him. Kasamatsu couldn't help but glance back and forth between them; it was like a hungry lion eyeing a screeching hawk. Predator versus Predator. And it was all about to begin.

"I'm not done, yet!"

Honey's voice seemed to snap through the tense air that had filled the clearing and all eyes looked at her surprise- and found her steeled smile. Akashi arched a brow but the illusive female only kept her smile and opened her mouth. Her words were almost as mysterious as that smile.

"Another important thing," her eyes snapped to Takao and to her club. Everyone who she considered under her care and who belonged to her. "True karaoke is done through listening and acting- it's enjoyed better this way and has an impact. Through this, the songs become alive and have their own meanings. 'Karaoke Live' is a testament to this. Remember that."

And she blew the whistle.


	35. Right?

_**OKay, I know this may seem like a tease, but for some reason I keep writing without thinking about it and I find new chapters coming out of me! I promise to update early, maybe tomorrow, with the actual competition to make up for my crazy mind!**_

 _ **I'm so sorry but please enjoy this chapter! Apparently POVs are my thing!**_

* * *

The clearing was almost silent as Honey spoke to her club members. "You all know your parts. We've also already warmed up some, though not as much as we normally do. You guys should be fine." A rare smile on her face. That quickly turned into the other steeled smile from before. "Let's do it."

Another kind of quiet settled over the clearing as the club began circling the two, almost as if they were simply doing warm ups, but with a thicker atmosphere of expectation and tension. The other Miracles were told to…

"Sit and observe."

Akashi raised a brow toward the club president. "You do know he was is a 'miracle', right? There isn't much that Ryouta can't copy to a near perfection."

The female seemed unperturbed. "There might be things that _I_ don't know about you guys. But I think the playing field is quite leveled right now on _both_ sides."

Akashi arched another brow, curious for an explanation, but the goading female only grinned and turned back to the group behind her. The rest of the miracles also watched her in confusion, even Kise who then turned to his senpai, as if about to ask what she meant-

And found a conflicted expression on Kasamatsu's face. He was also staring intently at him and Takao, who turned to look where he was staring. Kise grinned, sure his senpai would roll his eyes and wish him luck…

But then those eyes that were so conflicted while they watched them, became clear and locked gazes with Takao's. A small nod that Kise felt like a hammer to his gut. Next, Kasamatsu's eyes found his, but still held no direct confidence or enthusiasm- his senpai didn't think he could win? Or maybe, he wasn't sure…?

Kise turned back toward Takao with a new flame in his gut. He **would** win. Why was Kasamatsu acting so unsure?! Did he not believe in Kise?! Was Takao some kind of _god_ of the music world?! He let his animosity bleed out and saw the answering wariness from Takao.

Kise would win.

And he would join his senpai.

There was no doubt in his mind.

After all. He was a miracle.

…..

Takao felt the animosity from Kise about Kasamatsu's doubt and almost couldn't fault him. Whenever he glanced over to Midorima, he also noticed the doubt in those green eyes.

But he was confident.

The miracles had no idea what they were stepping into when they had challenged them. It still wore Takao raw that they thought gifts were the sole components of power- that hard work would never pay off. Kuroko had been a light and Takao knew that. Had seen it.

He had seen how hard Kuroko trained at everything he did. He had seen how the rules that he had believed true since his own defeat were not all there was in the world. Kuroko, through hard work and true perseverance, had truly bested Shin-chan and left him on his last leg in that game. He had turned Takao into a believer by how much he had changed their team that day.

He had probably been doing the same for all the miracles. The others in their club; Momoi, Kasamatsu, Himuro, they could all attest to that fact. The male in front of him, the model slash basketball miracle, probably considered this all something unknowingly serious.

At least, he _had_. It had apparently become serious when his senpai had given Takao the nod of encouragement. That he looked at his kouhai with worry and some doubt about his victory. That he hadn't believed _full-heartedly_ in his victory.

He had hurt him. And now Kise found it a challenge, something he _had_ to prove.

Now, it would be on.

Takao grinned finally, something inside of him unfurling its wings and sharpening its talons as Honey called for them to get in the middle of the circle and get ready as she'd already finished assigning.

Even as Takao stepped forward, he found himself wondering, as he passed Kasamatsu, if the senpai knew just how much his opinions and feelings meant to the blond miracle.

Of course he knew!...

Right?


	36. Round 1!

_**Okay, soooo...**_

 _ **I was going to go for one extra long chapter of the competition but since I was suppposed to update earlier and didn't, I thought I would cut it up in two so that I could update today and kind of make-up for the short chapters so far.**_

 _ **Also, I know that some people reaaaaallllyy wanted Kise to get like a mack-daddy smack-down in this competition and I was trying to help, but like I said before, the words kind of just weave themselves and that's not quite how it happened, but I hope this works! Please be kind!**_

 _ **Please read and review! I'll update the second I can, like I said, these two were mainly supposed to be together but I didn't think it would be fair to hold out from you guys like that!**_

 _ **So please! Read and Review please! And enjoy!**_

* * *

Kise watched, his predator golden eyes locked on his prey as the people around him arranged themselves. He kept his senpai in his peripheral vision. He wanted to see the doubt disappear from those deep eyes as the competition began. He wanted to see the confidence his senpai had always held for him. And only him.

Honey said something to them all but he was in the zone. A Capella was just singing. He knew how to do that and didn't need to get out of his zone to listen. It was the same in their games; basketball was something that swam in his veins and he knew how to play it instinctively. Though after his defeat by Kuroko, he had begun listening more and he realized distantly that he was doing it again…

But…his senpai had…

The first snaps broke him out of the zone he was in for a moment.

Snaps? He looked around at the snappers and then turned his gaze back to the silver eyed male, who still watched him closely but didn't seem surprised at all by the snapping.

A soft sound began next and Kise turned toward his senpai and the tall senpai, and found their lips moving. Before he could differenciate those sounds, more came from other around him. Many sounds. So many different sources…

 _"Duummm, dummm, daahhhmmm. "_

 _"Dum-dum-dum!"_

A whistle.

Soft voices adding to it.

A deep voice in the back.

It was all a jumble! And yet!...

He heard the melody. He _heard_ it! It was _music_! But…not the same up-beat rhythm as the actual song but…it was the _music_! They were _making_ it by themselves! Could people even _do_ that by themselves?

But he could _hear_ it. It was the song. How were they all so intune?...

"Kise!" Honey's voice snapped and the blond turned in surprise- and found that it was his verse.

He turned to Takao, hoping his instincts would just take control as they always did. It was music! The same as Karaoke, right?! He could…

But then, while he was waiting, maybe for his instincts to kick in, or maybe for the zone, whatever it was, it was Takao's turn.

And he used it. Well.

Stepping forward, the smaller male began…and it wasn't hesitant.

 _"I know it breaks your heart!"_

 _"Move to the city in broke down car and.."_

 _"Four years no calls!"_

 _"Now, I'm looking pretty in a broke down bar and…"_

Kise grabbed at the chorus, wondering just where the heck their choreographer had gone as Takao sang so passionately in front of him.

 _"So, baby, pull me closer,"_

 _"In the backseat of your Rover."_

More than one person was shocked into near silence- mainly one green-haired miracle. The duet was…freaking perfect. Takao's soft voice blended almost exotically with Kise's surprisingly smooth one. Kasamatsu found himself almost completely leaning forward in surprised curiosity at the two, and he was far from the only one.

Kise grinned in some inner triumph as he somehow found himself in the melody. But, also felt some defeat as he heard Takao begin so smoothly on his own verse. The hawk-eyed shooter seemed to have absolutely no problem navigating the music, his eyes seeming to shine in glee as he seemed to move with the music, almost as if the music was in his very bones.

Kise didn't want to lose though, he _didn't_! He _wouldn't_!

Stepping forward, Kise let go of his search for their freaking choreographer and met Takao head on, guns blazing.

They both met each other in the center then, close enough to touch, even as the music surrounded them like the closest and most harmonious of spaces. Kise found it seemed just as serious as when he fought with all of his heart in a game in the fourth quarter. With only seconds left.

Was this how important this was for Takao?...

He met him, and tried to let the music work around him as it did.

 _"Pull the sheets right off the corner,"_

 _"Of the mattress that you stole,"_

 _"From your roommate back in Boulder."_

 _"We ain't never getting older."_

 _(Dum! Dum! Dum!)_

The sounds around them seemed to crescendo just as their voices were. He almost felt…powerful there for a minute as Takao's voice crescendoed, following his lead- but with a bang.

 _"We ain't never getting older!"_

 _"We ain't never getting older."_ He sang again and waited for that voice to follow, its power echoing through the forest. He let it build, almost swearing he could feel it in his bones as they went back and forth until finally…Takao…

 _"We ain't never getting OLD-eeeeerrrrrrrr!"_ He swore it rang through the entire forest…

Kise smiled at Takao, not even feeling that he was _able_ to be upset as the music began to wind down around them.

 _"We ain't never getting older…"_

Was he upset? Had he lost?

Looking around at complete varieties of faces, he wondered if he should be.

"Did I…?" he asked aloud, not really sure what to say as something suddenly rolled in his gut at what he already knew.

The hawk-eyed male across from him had no mercy. "Yeah. That's a loss"

Damn.

Even the miracles seemed too confused to tell, or maybe they were just in shock, period.

"This isn't like a basketball game." The supposed-to-be choreographer said from somewhere to the side even as he stepped forward and began to stretch. "The results aren't always obvious, but you didn't do very well while Takao did. So, I guess that _would_ be a loss then.

"And where were you?!" Kise asked, still conflicted about his disbelief and yet not.

"Singing," Kiyo answered him, looking surprised. "Didn't you hear, Hon-chan? She said that she didn't want to make the first song _too_ hard so we would wait until the second." A pause as those eyes seemed to grow deep. "Hmm. It seems it was a good call."

"Kise,…" his senpai said, suddenly at his right, holding out what looked like a water bottle, yet a look in those eyes told him that he would be kicked senseless if he actually did what he had momentarily let cross his mind. Not that he would do it, anyway, but his senpai seemed to be a mind-reader.

"Starting in 10 seconds!" Honey shouted and Kise arched a brow, suddenly remembering his first day of modeling when he had to be shown the ropes. It almost felt like…he was going up against an organization. Or maybe… some kind of connected performance group.

This _was_ just a high school club, he knew that, but…it felt when he was on the job in the studio. The same air, maybe? He just couldn't put his finger exactly on why…but he knew what he felt!

"Pay attention!" Blinking back into the moment, Kise realized everyone was in a different order and position. But the blond also had something else to say as she turned to the miracles still watching. "You've seen enough! Hurry up and get over here!"

Four surprised teens looked at her as if she had lost her mind but Honey held her ground. Her eyes blazed, as if she were a tigress ordering her cubs. Akashi…sighed and shook his head, his eyes snapping to a pair of bright blue ones before he began to walk over. The rest followed in shock after their leader, though some looked _very_ close to planting their feet.

"Just sing what you know and follow along, got it?" Honey smiled, her words obviously looking down on them and Kuroko wanted to sigh.

It was one thing to beat them one at a time, but going against the entire team…

"Just trust her."

Kuroko turned in some surprise to the deep voice behind him and noticed Tetsumi-kun looking completely unfazed by the situation.

"You don't know what they can do." Kasamatsu said from the other side of the giant and Kuroko nodded, a sinking feeling entering his chest- but then freezing at the giant's next words.

"This isn't the first time she's gone against a prodigy." Kuroko turned, and also sensed Kasamatsu and Himuro do the same as Honey used Momoi to help position the miracles around Kise. The giant's ice colored eyes were on his shorter companion as Kiyo explained somewhat what was going to take place to some grumbled miracles.

"Kiyo-senpai?" Himuro asked in surprise, but the giant said nothing else, his eyes moving back to Honey as she took a step forward in the circle and began.

"Al right! Let's go!"

* * *

 ** _By the way, this arrangement was inspired by Mike Thompson's video_ : watch?v=-T3uR6qWEsc (type it in google and it'll pop up)**

 **Just if you guys want to hear it for yourselves :))))))**


	37. Roouuunnnd 2!

_**So please! Read and Review please! And enjoy!**_

* * *

Kise found the beat almost as complex as the other one, a chorus of

 _"Do-do, do-dooo-doo."_

And other sounds he honestly wondered how they were making filled the air. Something electric seemed to burn through the air as well and he was glad that Takao was first in this set. Though a part of him hated to admit that they were on unlevel ground.

Well, maybe more that _he_ was on the lower ground. Almost as if they were the away team in a game. The miracles around him seemed to somewhat agree as none of them were yet singing along.

And still, Takao caught on quick, as if he were swimming in his own current. Said current was making it somewhat hard to concentrate though on remembering the words. If only he could get into the zone!

 _"Oh, we were bound to get together!"_

 _"Bound to get together!"_

Kise tried to slip into the current as easily as the male across from him seemed to be doing.

 _"She took my arm."_

 _"I don't know how it happened."_

 _"We hit the floor and she saaaiiiddd!"_

And then Takao turned, and Kise paused even as he realized once again that he was missing something. Takao's silver eyes glittered as he began but it was another voice that snatched his attention.

"Look forward, baka!" Aomine's loud voice snapped and Kise snapped his gaze forward- and almost swore aloud.

The freaking choreography.

How the hell was he supposed to pay attention to all of this?!

And yet again, there was Takao.

 _"Shut up and dance with me!"_

The chorus around them didn't seem to have any problems whatsoever as they also followed along with the choreography and kept the music alive.

This level of organization wasn't natural at all!

Kise turned back just as those silver eyes began to shine seemingly without the need of the mysterious moon in the sky above them.

Damn.

What could he say?! And where was he supposed to start? He didn't even recognize the original melody anymore as the a Capella changed around him. Heat flooded his face and burned his neck as he felt the gazes of his old team behind him. And one from his new team.

Watching him.

Judging him.

How had he…

Takao seemed to take mercy on him then. He suddenly reached out, stepping out of the choreography around him and meeting him head-to-head; his voice came softly as he stepped forward, his breath almost whispering softly against Kise's cheeks as his solo voice slipped into the melody, so much easier than he expected it to.

 _"Deep in her eyes,"_

Kise grabbed it desperately, though part of him felt the burn of his pride turning to dust inside of him.

 _"I think I see the future!"_

 _"I realized,"_

 _"This is my last chance!"_

Takao smiled, apparenty content to simply enjoy the duet now. The deadly gleam that had shined in those silver depths was gone and now they simply seemed to shine with the flow of the music.

Wait. The "flow"?

Takao's voice chased away the thought for another moment, but Kise let the idea stay and watched Takao. This feeling…it was the same as when Kuroko had…

 _"We hit the floor,"_

 _"And she SAAIIIIDDD!"_

Flow. Flow. Flow. Flow.

 _(Do-do-do-doo-do-doo-up)_

 _(Do-do-do-doo-do-doo-up)_

 _"Oh, don't you dare look back,"_

 _"Just keep your eyes on me."_ Takao.

His turn…flow. Flow. Flow.

 _"I said you're holding back,"_

 _"She said-"_

 _"Shut up and dance with me!"_ Takao's voice clicked into place with the chorus and Kise felt like he'd just scored one of Midorima's freaking magical three-pointers.

Victory!

Glancing out the corner of his eye even as he continued, Kise felt his heart stutter as he saw Kasamatsu's smile as he watched him.

Finally! There it was!

He got it!

 _"OOO-wa-oooooo"_

 _"Shut up and DANCE with me!"_

The music around him almost seemed to explode, but Kise let the current go. He remembered this feeling from when he was playing with his team, after he had lost to Kuroko- and when their team slowly became almost synchronized in their games. The complete air around them seemed to change, just as it was at this moment.

This wasn't like karaoke at all. Karaoke could be sung alone, but this wasn't the same. This didn't have to be done alone. In fact, it seemed almost impossible to enjoy it alone- to swim the current alone.

The chorus seemed to almost participate against him and Takao, the music and richness ramping up in something he wasn't even sure he could he could explain as they were surrounded once more by the music around them.

 _"Oh, don't you dare look back!"_ The chorus sang around them.

 _"Just keep your eyes on me!"_ Kise and Takao volleyed back, the air still full of the electrical feeling that now seemed to affect them all. _"I said you're holding back. She said-"_

 _"Shut up and DANCE with me!"_

* * *

 ** _Arrangement inspired by Mike Thompson's video_ : ****watch?v=-HHRqa4VoAA** **(type it in google and it'll pop up)**

 **Just if you guys want to hear it for yourselves :))))))**


	38. GHOSTS?

_**Guys! Look how big this chapter is! Kaijo got their own chapter! I'm crying i'm so happy!**_

 _ **Please show them some love! Review!**_

* * *

"The hell are you DOING?!"

This time Kise could only agree with his senpai, the scene in front of him confusing just as much. And his lack of sleep at this hour was _not_ helping him.

Also, he had lost again.

 _Again._

Sighing away the frustration, Kise tried to concentrate on the situation in front of him and maybe regain his mask of easy confidence, at least for the moment.

He and his senpai had split up from the rest of the group in the forest just behind the camp, Honey instructing (demanding) that they meet back at the destination again tomorrow night. They had just gotten back to the cabin when Kise noticed the giant bundle of teenagers seemingly hiding in their cabin.

He glanced at the clock on his cabin wall, reading it as almost mid-night and couldn't fault his senpai for his outburst.

"Senpai! You're alive!" One of the first years cried aloud and Kise arched a brow as the rest of the team seemed to rejoice as if he and their captain had just returned from war.

"LOOK!" Another one shouted. "Kise's there, too! They're ALIVE!"

"THANK YOU, GOD!"

"What-" Kise started, walking closer to stand next to Kasamatsu, but his senpai just grabbed his arm and yanked him into the cabin. The captain's hand snapped up to smack the light switch off the light just as a the light seemed to blink on in their coach's cabin next door.

An irritated Kasamatsu "shhhhh" 'd his team, his blazing blue eyes swore painful retribution for any who didn't follow his order. An irritated voice seemed to eminate from outside, oddly loud in the now tensely silent cabin. The thick air threatened to choke them.

The growl of their groggy coach seemed to fill the world united as the team stayed silent, their wide eyes glued to the blazing (color) eyes of their captain. Footsteps crunched the fallen leaves and twigs around their cabin for a minute and Kise bit his lip at the thought of what their coach would do if he found them all awake and hanging out in each other's cabins.

Not join them, that's for sure.

Kasamatsu kept a sole finger to his lips as the footsteps stepped closer and paused. Another silent and tension filled minute passed…

Until the footsteps began to retreat and more groggy mumbling was heard as their coach returned to his cabin, most likely too tired to look too deeply at their cabin and content that he had done enough for the night. Even so, their captain kept his gaze of shining steel solid and that sole finger against his lips in a silent order until the sound of their coach's cabin door slamming echoed through the air.

With a sigh, Kasamatsu relaxed, but kept his voice low as he sat back and turned to the members of his team.

"What the hell were you guys doing? Why are you all still up? Do you understand how hard we're going to be training tomorrow?"

"You were up, too, you know?" Moriyama answered, his voice as low as his teammate. "Don't make it sound we were the only ones breaking the rules."

Kasamatsu gritted his teeth, a retort on his lips that he was technically practicing as well, just for a different cause. It seemed like he never had _any_ time for anything else lately and he felt almost drained by all the rapid events. There was even supposed to be something "new" happening that Tino-san had texted them about, sounding excited and promising to tell them when their camp ended. For some reason, the thoughts brought to his mind Takao's words from before when they had begun running back and forth between their secret but demanding celebrity life and their equally as demanding basketball lives.

 _"Why do we keep doing these things to ourselves? We're killing ourselves."_

A chill raced up his spine.

"Senpai?"

Kasamatsu blinked as he looked tuned back into the world around him. His teammates around him were watching him and Kasamatsu rubbed the back of his neck impulsively.

"Sorry, what did you-"

"You can feel it, too, can't you, Senpai?"

Kasamatsu arched a brow as he turned toward Hayakawa, who's gaze was, surprisingly, full of raw passion and desperation.

"Huh?" Kasamatsu asked as Kise leaned forward from behind him, also curious in what was going on.

The other teenager seemed to look around him, seemingly paranoid even as he whispered. "The ghosts."

"Ghosts?" Kise asked, goosebumps crawling up his arms as his teammates around him began to gather almost in some kind of weird gossip circle in the middle of the room. His captain sighed and flicked on the the lamp on the table. The second he reluctantly grabbed a pillow and situated himself on the floor with his team, Kise splaying out behind him, it began.

"We saw them!" Hayakawa seemed to almost _shout_ , as if he'd been _waiting_ for the moment he could tell his captain the news. Kasamatsu "shhh" d him again, but then, after another silent moment of patience…spoke up.

"Saw who?"

"Ghosts?" Kise whispered, his voice slightly high as he asked.

"Yes!" Hayakawa answered, his eyes still blazing as he answered, as of his story was so important that it should be carried onward for his next generations. "We _saw_ them!"

"Her." Nakamura spoke, his voice soft but solid. Kasamatsu arched a brow at his team, hoping for some clarification.

For some reason, his teammates collectively turned toward Kobori, his quiet vice-captain.

Who was now thrown under the bus as their captain's steeled eyes of the coldest ice latched onto him. Grace even under not only fire but in freezing temperatures, the third-year answered evenly and smoothly.

"The first and second years said they heard screams wake them by the West Gym courtyard. When they went to investigate, they claimed they saw dark figures lurking into the woods from the courtyard, right after all the screams."

"We didn't believe them at first, but some of the other teams were woken up, too." Moriyama spoke then, apparently feeling the developing story needed his assistance. "So, making sure none of the coaches were woken up, we third-years trekked out in the woods some, though these guys tried to follow us in."

"Oh?" Kasamatsu asked, sharing a look with Kise before he asked. "Then what happened?"

He noticed his classmate's face turn slightly pale.

"We started…hearing these weird sounds."

"Sounds?" Kise asked, urging his senpai on.

"Like…grunting…"

"And moaning!"

"And gasping!"

"And a voice…"

"What did it say?" Kasamatsu asked, his mind slowly piecing together just what had occurred.

"It was crying out in pain." Nakamura supplied, his voice growing slightly higher. "Groaning in pain or something! Begging for someone to 'stop' and yelling things like 'I can't' and ' _please!'_."

"I see." Kasamtasu nodded.

He was going to kill Takao.

Beside him, Kise had started to actually turn reddish slightly, the color touching the tip of his ears. He arched a brow at his kouhai but the blond didn't willing to look at him for some reason. He reluctantly returned to the conversation with his next question, his peripheral gaze still on the flushing blond next to him.

"Then what happened? Did you hear another voice beside his?"

"Not then," Moriyama answered, seeming surprised that their captain was listening so intently to their story. Or why a relieved light seemed to flicker momentarily in his steely gaze but quickly disappear. His captain wasn't as hard to read as he hoped he was. "But while we were paused and listening to the sounds around us…another one came."

"And she _screamed_!" Hayakawa jumped in, his enthusiasm obvious as the fire re-entered his eyes and blazed.

"She demanded to know what we were doing," Moriyama interceded, taking back the story track. "I swear her scream actually _surrounded_ us in that forest. She was like ' _WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING?!'._ "

"I see," Kasamatsu said, sounding disinterested on the outside even as he internally face-palmed. Using a momentary break from his team's gazes, he sent Kise a clear look that ordered him to keep his mouth shut. The model nodded, though apparently confused slightly, and Kasamatsu turned back as Hayakawa started to detail their treacherous run back to the camp.

Figuring the story was finally coming to an end, Kasamatsu let his mind wander some as he wondered if the other teams they had mentioned were still up and scared as well. Had everyone made it back okay? How had their teams reacted if they were all, indeed, still awake? What about Honey and the others?

"You saw her?" Kise's sudden question from beside him had Kasamatsu snapping back into the moment with a jump.

"Yeah!" Hayakawa answered, his eyes alight. "When we were running!"

"Who?" Kasamatsu asked and Moriyama sighed, apparently upset the flow of the story was a mess.

"We saw a girl while we were running back. It was only a glimpse of her through the trees but it was enough. Though she was cute."

"What did she look like?" Kise asked and Kasamatsu leaned forward as well. They had said that they had run back. Had they seen Honey through the trees? How had they-

"Short, brown hair falling to upper shoulders. Short bangs over her eyes. Nice, soft hair. Slender, pale shoulders and a small, curvy shape. Wearing a gray long sleeve with a light blue skirt. Thick stockings and cute, brown ankle boots. Probably a freshman in high school."

Kasamatsu knew he wasn't the only one watching Moriyama with wide eyes at the moment. Everything but the eye color…wow.

"I can't help it," the third-year smiled in a prince-charming sort of way and Kasamatsu swore he saw damn sparkles around him. "When I see a pretty girl, they somehow implant themselves deep within my heart. Even if it's only a glimpse of their beauty."

Those damn sparkles were starting to piss Kasamatsu off.

But wait. Momoi and Riko were the only females at the camp. The description sounded nothing like Honey or really anyone who he knew that was _supposed_ to be out here. Who was this girl? Maybe a ghost? A trick of the light?

Maybe it wasn't something he had to worry about for now...?


	39. Thoughts?

_**Please review and tell me how it's working! Do you like it? Would you like a chapter about something? Please let me know!**_

 _ **Thank you so much for reading!**_

 _ **-BlaireZ16K**_

* * *

"Ryouta?"

Kise blinked into the moment with four other gazes staring back at him. In particular, a gaze of crimson and gold. Sounds of basketball and squeaking tennis shoes filled the air of the courtyard just outside of the gym. The afternoon sun heated his back even in the winter temperatures, heating up the sweat that still remained on his skin after his practice.

"Did you hear what I was saying, Ryouta?" Akashi asked and Kise felt his face heat some.

"Well…"

"Quit spacing out, BAKA." Aomine growled from beside him and Kise turned, opening his mouth- until Akashi cut them both off.

"As I was explaining," Akashi began again, keeping his eyes on the two in front of him as the green and purple haired people beside him behaved enough that he didn't have to observe them as closely. "The investigation that I've opened up into Tetsuya's club has, before, taken a back seat to us preparing for the Winter Cup, but I believe we will have to bring it forward once more."

"I agree," Midorima spoke from his stance beside his former captain. He pushed his glasses upward slowly as he gathered his thoughts from the performances last night. "The very fact that all five of them were willing to risk severe punishment for something so simple as a club activity almost guarantees that there is more to the story."

"They could just take the club that serious," Aomine spoke aloud, his words lazy…but his eyes were steel as he continued. "But that just doesn't make any sense for Tetsu or Momoi, who both put basketball above everything."

"Takao holds a personal vendetta. He wouldn't dare risk this opportunity."

"And yet, he did." Akashi finished for Midorima, putting the thought into the air. A silent moment took over and Kise felt his thoughts return to what he had been thinking of before. It seemed unusual enough at the time that it had raised a red flag in his mind, yet he had let himself let it go. But what he had seen today during practice seemed to only add to the mystery.

What had his senpai gotten himself involved in? What was this club that he was willing to risk so much for it?

And why did he look so pale today?

"Ryouta."

Crimson and gold filled his vision as he snapped back into the moment once again, but this time he was staring into those eyes directly.

"Your thoughts," his former captain spoke, his voice a whip. "Tell me them."

Kise answered immediately, though the words that came out weren't ones that he was actually thinking about at the second but the ones from a second before.

"Their club…" he tried to find his words. "Doesn't it seem too _perfect_ to be an after-school activity?" He wasn't sure of what he was saying exactly, but it was enough of a scent that he felt it was important. The thought was crazy, but he kept going. "It sort of reminds me of when a modeling group comes in and they're trained to be in sync that way—or maybe of another basketball team."

"With that blond as their captain." Aomine growled, surprising Kise that he didn't scoff at his unsure words. "And that big guy as their point guard."

"I see," Akashi said thoughtfully, his mind racing with the new information. His next words surprised his former team.

"Now then. Here is what to do next…"

…

"A girl?" Takao asked his senpai, his eyebrows rising at the scene of which Kasamatsu swore he had returned to when he had finally returned to his cabin.

"Yeah," the captain sighed as he re-rinsed the towel around his shoulder as his hawk-eyed friend leaned against the cool stone by the faucet. "Supposedly, they saw her pretty close to where we were practicing, but it may be nothing-"

"Was she slim? Had bangs?"

Kasamatsu turned toward his kouhai slowly, the chill that raced through him at Takao's words didn't seem to have anything to do with the newly chilled towel around his shoulders or the December weather.

"Supposedly."

"I see." Takao answered and Kasamatsu felt the chill race through the rest of his body slowly as Takao told him about the shadow that he had seen but dismissed in Tokyo. After the story, the two seemed to stare silently at each other in the afternoon light, crows cawing around them into the silence.

"Senpai," Takao spoke, his eyes shifting dangerously. "It could just be a coincidence."

Kasamatsu stared in the direction of the setting sun over the horizon now, his mind churning as he reached for his phone. For some reason, although the towel had already turned warm once more from his sweat, it seemed to once again send a harrowing chill all the way through his bones.


	40. Practice!

"Give it back, Satsuki!"

Momoi held the idol magazine to her chest, the glare of ice and daggers daring the dark idiot across from her to _try_ to take it from her.

"PRACTICE!" she snapped and Daiki started growling at her again even as he began stripping off the sweater around his shoulders and placing on the jersey they were using for their joint practices at the camp. He tried to snap at her again but those glowing eyes dared him to say another word against her.

Imayoshi snickered behind him and Aomine wanted to punch something. Their warm-ups were taking place so that they could have a practice match against Shutoku, sort of an extra-late practice.

And he hated it. Going against the carrot megane was not a game that he enjoyed; the only one that he could actually go head-to-head with in his animal senses on the team was that hawk that was the megane's smug shadow. The male still wasn't a "miracle" though, so it wouldn't be as fun as going head-to-head with Kagami or Kise. He could also challenge their other players, but the hawk was another predator, so similar to himself, yet still so much weaker undoubtably. The damn megane was a miracle though, and his three pointers were nearly impossible to stop as they slammed against their opponents.

At least this way Akashi could get some of what he had demanded from each of them. Apparently, every single reaction or move on the court was a must-know for their dictator of a former captain. Whatever the red-eyed miracle was planning apparently would require every bit of information he could get.

"Do you think she's not feeling well?"

Aomine turned to the worried voice beside him with another growl. "What?"

Sakurai seemed to jump slightly at his tone, but then his eyes went back to where he had held them before. "Mo-Momoi-san. She looks a bit flushed…I wonder if I should make her some soup or something. It would be horrible if she got sick! Especially a week before the Winter Cup."

Rolling his eyes at the timid shooting guard, Aomine began to tell him to focus on the game when he also turned to see her- and noticed it too. His magazine clutched tightly open between her fingers and her hair mostly covering her expression- but the flaming red ears were a dead giveaway. She was blushing- bad. Over something in his female idol magazine. One of the pages he had corner marked as one of his favorites.

For a moment, Aomine felt his own face burn as he thought about the possibilities of her sudden interest…

Maybe...!

The slamming noises of the gym doors being opened snapped his thoughts from their slippery slope. His eyes immediately met a pair of cool green ones and he "tsk"d reflexively as the megane entered the gym...

And didn't even give him a reaction, ignoring him in favor of saying something probably insulting to Takao.

Bastard.

It was during another round of Aomine noticed that there was an odd closeness between Takao and Momoi. His ears perking lazily at their voices, he turned to find Takao saying something softly to the pink haired manager, whose face seemed to pinken again as she showed the magazine to the grinning hawk. The warm-ups were being done in rotation and during his break, the hawk had apparently flown over to Satsuki and taken an equal, but more pleased, interest of whatever was in the magazine.

What the hell were they both going so crazy over!? It wasn't like it was a _ero_ magazine or something! Everybody loved idols! But the grinning face that Takao had and the flustered one of Satsuki told him it wasn't idol adoration that colored their conversation of whatever favorite idol page he had flagged.

Another moment of soft conversation passed between the two as Takao seemed to take his magazine from Momoi and stare closer at their open page. For some reason, Aomine felt his irritation growing as he watched the two look together, once again, down at the page as the hawk apparently pointed something out. He found he didn't want that hawk so close to Satsuki. Both of them seemed to raise their heads then and Aomine wanted to growl from how in sync they looked when they both looked at each other...

\- and then both of their gazes snapped into his own. The damn grin on the hawk's face made the heat already coursing through him burn molten and he growled at the damned teen. Who only seemed to grin even wider at his agitation.

The whistle blew to end rotational warm ups and Takao said something else to the pink-haired Manager before giving her a grin and then seeming to almost _float_ back to his green haired teammate who asked if he was done gossiping for the day. Shrugging the words off with a grin and another shrug, the teen said only that that was probably why Midorima never got all the love notes that could have been shoved in his locker. Aomine felt his lip curl in amusement as he watched the aloof green-haired teen flush slightly and turn away from the teen with a "hmph" and a push up of the glasses that had begun to slide further down his nose.

The hawk had guts. _Maybe_ he wasn't that bad. But still not a Miracle.

Another whistle blew and Aomine felt his skin heat for a completely different reason; anticipation for the match now had his blood nearly boiling in excitement. Animal instinct filled his body, sharpening his concentration and heightening his senses as their teams lined up. Finally.

Game Time.

….

Kasamatsu knew he was supposed to be paying better attention to his team's plays, and he was trying to keep his eyes on them- watching carefully and observantly as they played the mock-match against Rakuzan- but his mind wouldn't quiet its unrest. His conversation with Tino-san ricocheting around in his head.

The fact that he wasn't on the court wasn't a decision he had made by himself, but that was made by some odd general consensus of Rakuzan and Kaijo after Rakuzan had offered, "for the benefit of an equal match" to keep their captain on the bench- as long as Kaijo did the same. The infuriating placebo olive branch should've made Kasamatsu see red, and his entire team had, understandably, also been infuriated. However, he wasn't stupid.

Nor was he a hypocrite.

The bi-chromal first year captain was doing what he himself had done first against Seiren when he hadn't considered the team anywhere _close_ to their power level. He had, at first, supported keeping Kise off the court in what he had already guessed would be a simple game against a weaker team. Seiren had proved themselves undoubtedly, but the strategic standpoint held still.

Don't waste talent.

The uncrowned kings were already strong and seemed to be clashing pretty well with Kise and Kasamatsu had to fight the need to jump in and back his ace up. Though their team work was solid, it almost didn't seem fair to use three uncrowned kings against a Miracle- and take away his other half.

Maybe this was how Midorima felt whenever Takao was put onto another practice team. Or maybe Kagami when he couldn't work with Kuroko. Either way, he didn't like how it felt and wanted to rip off his jacket and jump into the fray.

A sudden chill raced up his back and Kasamatsu lifted his gaze from the court to find himself the center focus of that famous gaze of dark rubies and crushed topaz. For a moment, he found he really couldn't look away. He had an unpleasant and almost chilling feeling of being inspected, of the teen across the court from him wanting to open his mind and look through everything he was. And find all of his secrets. A player crossing the space between the space between them finally broke the spell and Kasamatsu rubbed the back of his neck reflexively.

He felt jittery, as if he had just escaped a powerful predator in the wild.

Shaking off the over-exaggeration, the Kaijo captain turned his gaze back to the game, hoping to also shake off the chill left from Tino's words from yesterday afternoon. It wouldn't do him any good to fret about it now with so much already happening and the Winter Cup next week.

There was truly no time to lose.

And slowly but seemingly, less ways out.

* * *

 _ **Please review and tell me how it's working! What do you think Kasamatsu heard from Tino? What do you think the Miracles are going to do?**_

 _ **By the way, Aomine calls Takao "Hawk" because the word "taka" translates into "Hawk". His hawk eyes, you know ;).**_

 _ **Thank you so much for reading, guys! I love you!**_

 _ **-BlaireZ16K**_


	41. Oh Crap!

Kasamatsu watched Momoi out the corner of his eye as she watched his blond ace practice on the court below them in another practice match. The twisting feeling in his stomach only grew as he watched her expression of calculation grow somber as she concentrated on what he had asked her to look at. He had noticed it himself when Kaijo had went against Rakuzan earlier in the day. He had immediately reached out to her.

He hoped he was wrong.

But that possibility dropped altogether as she turned to him and shook her head.

...

Takao heard it as he paused to grab a sip of water from one of the water fountains by the gym Shutoku was assigned during the camp.

"Sometimes, just... JEEZE!"

"Calm down, Miyaji."

Takao froze, instinctively sneaking closer to the wall and the slit-open doorway that he knew led to the locker rooms of the old gym. Maybe he was an eavesdropper, but interesting drama was hard to come by in a team of strong males.

"Miyaji-senpai."

"I know." the familar voice of his senpai growled into the seemingly tense air in the locker room. "I just...sometimes..!" Another tense moment of silence. "I don't know how Takao puts up with that miracle sometimes. He's not a bad kid." An angry huff as Miyaji tried again to calm himself. "It's just... _sometimes_..."

"I understand your frustration." The Shutoku captain spoke, then and Takao leaned closer. "However, Midorima-kun is one of the Generation of Miracles and our teammate."

"I understand that," the blond answered with a slightly less irritated tone but still smoldering. "It's just the way he acts sometimes gets to me. He won't even _pass_ to us! Well, except to Takao. " Takao froze at his name and at the odd silence that followed its mention. What was _that_ supposed to mean?

"Yeah..."

 _"Yeah" and...?!_

 _"_ About Takao..." his captain started and Takao felt a chill race up his spine.

Oh crap. What...?


	42. Observations?

_**Hiiiii there! Just a warning, this story will be slightly edited a bit over the next few days! No major changes, just some edits to juice it up for some AWESOME new chapters!**_

 _ **As Always! Thank you so much for reading and please REVIEW and tell me what you think, please! :):):)))) I love you guys!**_

 _ **-Blaire16K**_

* * *

"About Takao..."

Oh crap! What...?

"You've noticed it too, haven't you?"

Noticed what? No way...!

"Of course," Miyaji growled, folowing it with a sigh and Takao could picture the blond combing his hands through his hair in irritation. "Like the freshman can hide anything from me. He's got a long way to go; I saw through it all at our practice game earlier with Tuou."

Huh?

"Huh?" Yuya squaked in confusion and Takao was thankful someone seemed as confused as he was. He hadn't been singing anything during their last practice game- it had been a brutal enough game and he had been hard pressed to even crawl into the showers after that game. "What are you talking about?" Yuya asked his older brother and the older blond sighed in exasperation.

"Do you remember before the game during rotational warm-ups?"

A pause as Yuya and Takao both tried to understand and remember just what the third-years were talking about. During warm-ups...

 _Momoi's model pictures_? He thought just as Yuya asked, "The Tuou's manager?"

"Yes," Miyaji answered, sounding relieved. Takao still didn't get it and apparently he wasn't alone.

"Weren't they only looking at that magazine together?"

A sudden panic sped up Takao's heart as he wondered if his senpais had actually _recognized_ Momoi's idol shoot as her Rhythm persona, but he didn't ever remember them even _looking_ at the picture so how would that even be possible? Though, that magazine _was_ a popular one. If they had, that would be bad-

"Do you really think they were only talking about that magazine?"

Eh?

"Huh?"

What else would they have been talking about?

"What else could they have been talking about?"

Yuya is stupid.

"WHAT?!"

"What?"

"Yuya? What is it?"

Shaking his head at his older brother and Captain's concerns, Yuya apologized, though he was confused ... "Sorry, I thought I heard something."

He could've sworn he'd heard...

"Anyway," Miyaji continued as his younger shook off whatever momentary insanity had overcome him. "There was no way they were just having a friendly chat over that magazine. Did you see those looks that that manager was sharing with Takao and that miracle from Tuou; they're definitely scouting him for their team."

 _WWHHHAATTTT?!_

"Scouting _Takao_?!" Yuya squaked and Takao could almost hear his captain nod his head solemnly.

"Yes. And we can't let that happen."

"Of course not!"

Yuya...

"Not only is he an important member of our team, but i'm ninety-percent sure he's the indestructible glue that holds the great miracle Midorima-kun to the Shutoku High School basketball team. Maybe even the entire team together as it is!"

Miyaji-senpai...?

Takao wasn't even sure how to feel as others started agreeing with the siblings and spoke aloud.

"We can't let them take him! Takao belongs at Shutoku!"

"Yeah!"

Takao hated the clenching in his stomach as he stepped back from the locker room doors, careful to keep his silence as he did, and somehow made it to the back picnic area behind the gym. He sank onto one of the perches, his mind in a darker state than before.

At the fresh screeching of tennis shoes, his eyes traveled over toward the gym across from courtyard and caught a glimpse of Shin-chan and Kise seeming to have some kind contest of the Miracle's copycat ability. The stadium looked almost full as others watched in awe and excitement. Kise and his green-haired ace actually looked to be almost...having fun. The Miracles...the Generation of Miracles were, as always, amazing...

And then Takao noticed, just beyond the two stars of the show... above them, watching from the observation deck above, stood the young captain of Kaijou. Takao found he couldn't look away as he observed Kasamatsu standing silently above the others in the gym on the reserved observation deck, a worried shine and an unnatural softness within those eyes that were usually the same color and temperature as clean and sharp-edged ice. Those soft, glittering alaskan-blue eyes were now fixed on the young blond miracle on the court, the worry swirling openly in hues of troubled sapphire. The clipboard was held tightly to his chest.

So this was how it was, was it?...


	43. Interesting?

Himuro stared down at the ticket in between his fingers, the sound of screeching tennis shoes and male grunts filled the air as his team practiced around him with another team. He could see a certain purple-haired giant on the court from the corner of his eye.

Apparently, Atsushi was in some kind of spat with some of the others on the other team. His usually content eyes were violet heat as he looked down at whoever it was from the other team that had said something the giant didn't agree with.

The whistle blew then and Himuro realized that Araki had called for a time out. Her eyes stayed on Atsushi as he trudged forward to the bench. And hers weren't the only ones. There seemed to be a humming tension in the air, just waiting for a careless match to set it off.

But before that could set off, Himuro smiled and reached for what was in his pocket. The unhappy expression on the giant miracle's face suddenly turned to wonder as a something _**amazing**_ was held in front of his face.

"Your parents put you on that sugar diet again, didn't they?" Without even having been told he had known the moment the miracle had come to practice, one of the final ones of their camp. "And you've run out of your reserves." A prince-like laugh that echoed through the shocked team as the purple, over six foot tall miracle looked at his shadow as if he were a god as he carefully took the large sucker in his hand.

"My favorite flavor..." The suddenly soft spoken giant still seemed in shock as he stared down at the smiling prince beside him. "All this camp?" Himuro had kept these for him the entire time? Just in case his own stash ran out?

Another angelic smile. "Of course. Take a break and enjoy it- you've played hard." A pointed smile at Araki. "Ne?"

The female only sighed and pointed toward the bench, a wry grin wanting to break as she wondered if she even had a choice. The now glowing miracle was already happily seated and sucking away when she turned and re-issued team plays, the giant and the prince once more proving that there could be no light without its shadow.

Himuro thumbed the ticket in his pocket again...

And almost broke the facade right there.

...

Akashi paid no mind to the game his team was currently engaging in, what was on his phone at the moment was much more important. The digital flyer was bright and captivating, the show selling out so fast it seemed unrealistic. A dark smile curved his lips as he spoke.

"Interesting."

* * *

 _ **I'm aliiiiiivveee! Hi ㈳7 Sorry about the long wait this time and how this really isn't a very good reward for waiting, but I was still editing and revising some of the old chapters for the plot line! If you guys have already read this far but haven't re-read in a while, some of the edits may seem confusing when they come into play soon! Also sorry that these latest chapters are kind of sad, but it'll add up, I promise!**_

 _ **Thank you so much for your support! It means the world to me! Please read and review! Let me know your thoughts, your ideas, your feelings- it all really inspires me so much!**_

 ** _Thank you so much! I love you!_**

 ** _-BlaireZ16K_**


	44. Ready?

_**Please read and review! Thank you so much! :)))**_

* * *

Tino felt like completely destroying his office. The text on his phone still bright as day but carrying so much impact that he was close to tearing his hair out.

It was that date. That was the only date that he could get! The concert was supposed to be one of the biggest in the Japan! It was supposed to be PERFECT!

But it fell on...

The Winter Cup.

It was all over. Everything was OVER?!

He exhaled loudly and tried to calm himself down, think of SOMETHING. ANYTHING.

But all he could do was stare at the text glowing back at him from his screen.

 _From: Kasamatsu Yukio_

 _I'm sorry._

* * *

Shiro Tetsumi was only half listening as Kiyo spoke, his best friend's voice always so excited and quick, his eyes sparkling as he tried to show him something on his phone. Their bus was mostly quiet, the afternoon light slanting in and causing a darkened, honeyed glow that seem to transport them to another world- away from the hustle and bustle that usually encompassed them for most of their day.

It was bliss.

Or, it could have been, if Kiyo wasn't still tryng to shove a phone in his face.

"Ro! Look!"

Sighing, Shiro looked over and onto the screen hovering apparently inches from his face. A media report was idling on the small bright screen, a headline in large letters on top. Sliding the Hype headphones- that he mainly wore to keep a little peace, though he knew that Kiyo probably already realized that and still spoke anyway- he took the small device and began to read.

 _ **Rhythm Concert Cancelled...?!**_

 **Whispers of the fresh-on-the-scene idol group going MIA and cancelling their concert have lit the fanbases like _wildfire!_ One, mainly anonymous, blogger in particular has voiced that the group has decided to end their time in the limelight altogether! Although there is yet any evidence to back up this anonymous source, fans have wondered if this may be reason for not only the band's sudden music style shift to a Capella and their secrecy of their identities! Has this all been a once-lit wildfire that will soon be estinguished?! Is this really the end of _Rhythm_?! The group that shook the entertainment world to its very foundations!?**

 **Check back as we learn more and stay tuned!**

 **J-Pop News!**

Shiro handed the phone back to Kiyo silently. Whatever the expression on his face, it apparently kept his friend from asking questions as he stood and pulled more-than-a-little-harshly on the break handle above Kiyo's head and grabbed his bag even before the bus began it's stopping process. Kiyo was a silent presence beside him as he slid off the bus just as the doors opened and began backtracking in the other direction than their houses.

If Vega Lex thought he was going to sit around as they let her loose again, they had another thing coming. He had his phone out and dialing a bare second later, ready.


	45. Understand!

_**Hiii :). Sorry! I'm so late!**_

 _ **Please review!**_

* * *

Momoi scrolled passed the JPop News article, her heart jumping in her throat. Kiyo had sent her the link. Now, sitting here in the gym against the bleachers as Tuou's early morning practice commenced, she almost wished she had never opened it.

The sounds of sneakers screeching on the gym floor and the breathless exclamations of the males on the court seemed to fade away into the white noise. Even the warmth as the early sun warmed her knees through the gym windows, faded and became nonexistent as she shook her head and felt her voice disappear.

That wasn't true! The entire concert idea was incorrect! Well, at least a major part of it was! Who had old them such a thing?! Anyone who had actually seen the flyer would know!

So... why were there so many comments?..

So many awful words?...

They didn't understand what they were even talking about! They-

"Momoi-san?"

Sakurai's voice seemed to break through most of the white noise that had begun to fill her world and make her feel so ill that she wasn't sure she could last through morning practice. Looking up, she found him leaning almost over her, his worried eyes on her face. Others grouped behind him, all watching her with the same worried- and some fearful- expressions.

What was wrong?..

"Why are you crying, Momoi-san?"

A shocked touch to her cheeks made her realize that he was right. She could feel them now, too, warmth falling down her cheeks. Only getting warmer.

"Satsuki?"

That voice.

The tears only burned harder and fell more as _he_ perched down in front of her; a look of confusion and somewhat fear on his expression as he spoke. She couldn't hear his words passed the noise in her head but his expressions told her everything as he apparently started to panic when she only stared at him and cried.

This was what they didn't understand; this man. And just how much he was panicking at the sight of her crying and by how she wasn't replying to him. Just how he _was_.

But it was obvious to her.

When she was finally could speak, her words came out a bit croaked but still with some laugh in them. Her heart was in these words.

"Dai-chan, you idiot.."


	46. Good Morning!

_**Hiii :). Sorry! I'm so late, again! This is just an extra part to make up for my lateness :3 !**_

 _ **Please review! :)**_

* * *

Takao's phone clenched between his fingers. The comments on the damn not-even-completely-true web article that Momoi had sent him the link to were making his eyes snap a predatory silver color. The phone nearly looked like it might be his next pray as he stabbed his thumb on the screen and scrolled. Shin-chan's presence to his right kept him from speaking allowed, but some high school girls next to him seemed wary as they shifted a bit away from him, his eyes at the moment probably not helping. Breath puffed out into a cloud as he breathed and exhaled into the chilled Winter air, trying to stay inconspicuous; the females kept their distance.

Shin-chan seemed to also be busied by his phone and Takao could admit he was curious, but, for some maybe masochistic reason, he returned to his own phone and the JPop commentary feed that had inflamed him so much before.

* * *

 ** _Are they really not going to show to their OWN concert? COWARDS!_**

* * *

 ** _Dude, of course not! They're too afraid to even show their faces on camera! I totally saw this coming. -.-_**

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 ** _Maybe they don't even have real talent in the first place!_**

* * *

 ** _I believed in you, Rhythm! Why would you DO THIS?!_**

* * *

Cowards? ...Jerks?... **Selfish?!**

"Takao, you're going to break your phone." Midorima's voice brought him back down to earth in a rush. It was almost surreal how peaceful the morning air and scenery looked- and how far away the girls had gathered from him. The shuffling, rumbling sound of the bus filled the air as it rounded the corner and made its way over to them.

Takao turned to say as much- and found himself directly centered in those sharp emerald eyes. So sharp that it seemed they were trying to pry his mind open.

It wasn't like his partner to simply ask if he was okay or ask what he was thinking about; instead, keeping Takao pinned with his gaze, the miracle pulled his gym bag over his shoulder and stared down at him as the girls behind them hurried onto the bus and others got in front of them. They stood there, instead, in their own space, maybe in their own world.

The words that he'd secretly overheard from his teammates filled his head then, going into a mental war with the comment stream as his green haired miracle waited on him, his gaze unwavering. Waiting for him to choose?

He chose.

Grinning, Takao whipped his phone out and -with a quick swipe of the thumb beforehand- tossed his phone to the surprised miracle who, nonetheless, caught it in midair and looked down onto the screen...

And paled with horror.

"Your luck is last place today Shin-chan." He let his loud smirk bleed into his voice, his own sign way above on the list. A devilish light entering his eyes, he quickly grabbed his own bag and made it to the bus doors just as the driver was about to give up on them. He turned his words back on his partner who followed him in a now extremely paranoid manner. "I was wondering if I should even ride the bus with you- I might get snatched by BUS PIRATES or the entire bus might get abducted by _ALIENS_! I mean, I guess we'll find out now, won't we?"

His partner's dark glare and the extreme confusion of the occupants on the bus made it so tempting to go farther, but he decided to pause as his teammate nearly tomahawked his phone at his face.

Yet, even as they sat down and began thier ritual (him talking and Shin-chan pretending to ignore him, annoyed), he felt his fingers clench around his phone now safely in his pocket.

And they clenched tighter.


	47. Confrontations?

_**To a certain reviewer who got extremely angry at me for my last two chapters and called me a tease,**_

 _ **XOXOXO**_

* * *

It wasn't that Takao didn't _want_ to, for the third or fourth, accidentally run into Kuroko and Momoi... Maybe it was the hope that he'd have more time to come to terms with what they had to talk about. When he had been nearly tomahawked by his own phone thrown by Miracle teammate earlier that morning, he had thought afterword of texting one of them to let them know of the experience, but he wasn't sure if they would reply.

Hopefully, he hadn't been unconsciously running away.

A heavy silence fell between the three of them as they walked, even Takao not even sure what to say...

 _I'm sorry...?_

 _I can explain...?_

Could he really? Could they really just accept that his team needed him for this? That he couldn't risk them falling apart without him?

The scuff of tennis shoes and the dim sound of muffled voices caught all three of their attentions. Three gazes turned toward the park to their right, the afternoon sun lighting up the scene into something more fitting for a Rocky movie as two miracles stood facing each other, both of their shadows looking extremely unhappy to be there.

"Kise..."

"It's alright, Senpai. Everything is fine."

The blond's words may have _sounded_ fine, but underneath the smooth silk was something that made Takao's ears perk up and his hair stand on attention. Neither the blond nor his senpai seemed to notice the three of them approach and Takao wondered maybe if Kuroko had rubbed off his lack of presence onto them. Was this a move he could use?

Another voice cut through the park, just as cautious.

"Atsushi..."

The purple giant said nothing to his teammate beside him. It seemed the prince of Yosen was also having trouble predicting where this altercation would lead as his light stared silently down at the blond miracle- his violet eyes smoldering in way that Takao couldn't recall ever seeing up close before. His long hair was even puled back in a way that Takao found interesting.

Both the shining gold and the burning violet seemed bad. Whatever had occurred apparently wasn't going to end well at this rate.

Then the blue shadow to his right stepped forward.

"Kise-kun. Murasakibara-kun."

"Ku-Kuroko-chhi!" Kise's happy shout echoed throughout the park, suddenly shattering the tension that had filled the air with the predatary stand off that had seemed so imminent just a moment ago. Takao found himself, not or the first time, impressed by the silent shadow that was the sixth man of the Generation of Miracles, yet lived in the shadows with him and the others.

Both shadows on the other side looked just as surprised as their miracle partners; Himuro caught on first.

The prince seemed to snap into action, his fingers snatching out to grab a grocery bag that was apparently resting atop a gym bag that was leaning against the pole of the park's open basketball court. Takao took that in even as Himuro, his prince-like aura and smile at full blast, handed the grocery bag to the now awed Yosen Miracle. The bright and shiny bags of snacks were completely visible through the flimsy bag material and Takao couldn't help his smile as the giant was already unraveling an omaibo, completely serene. A small box of cakes was handed to him next and Takao felt his stomach growl.

Another purple and white gym bag leaned against a neighboring pole of the open basketball court and Takao noticed a basketbal laying near the center of the court, as if a game had been interrupted and never resumed. The Yosen light and shadow practicing for the Winter Cup so close? Or maybe more like trying to relax for it.

Kise's voice speaking to Momoi brought him back to the Kaijou pair. Neither one wore uniforms, only street clothes- the blond miracle more dressy than not. Fashionable. A night on the town, maybe? Another pair trying to relax before the big showdown?

Two completely different ideas of how, yet both intended to simply forget about any worries and just enjoy the cool afternoon.

So how did it all end in such a tense confrontation?

"Atsushi?" Himuro spoke, his voice smooth and kind as he smiled at his teammate. "Isn't your Mom making you a special dinner tonight for your father's birthday? She'll be mad if you don't get those cakes back soon."

The purple giant nodded, half an omaibo still hanging out of his mouth.

"And you!" Kasamatsu's sudden exclamation had Kise almost jumping ten feet into the air in shock. The third-year wasn't even pausing in giving the blond model an earful. "Aren't _you_ going to be late for your date with that girl?!"

Wide eyes and a quick look at the time on his phone were all the indications that Kasamatsu needed from the model before he was yanking him by his scarf and sweater up the street, swearing at the blond even as he suffocated and dragged him. Himuro appeared to have the same idea as he began to lead his omaibo-eating light in the other direction, toward the station.

As Kaijou's third-year captain passed them, his eyes snapped to Kuroko's, then to Momoi's, and finally to Takao's. A burning question in those eyes that flamed blue with a sudden wild swirl of bright, metallic silver. Another, princely gaze also watched them.

Another choice to be made?...

He... nodded.

Usual time. Usual place.

It hadn't been that long...and yet Takao felt odd as he watched them walk away; his breath starting in his lungs and his chest, for some reason, beginning to warm- his fingers trembling.

Whatever was happening, he felt better than he had in a week!


End file.
